Long before Amazon, Audible, and other digital book distributors, bookmobiles were bringing literature to peoples’ doorsteps. Their mission was to provide remote villages and city suburbs that had no libraries with books to read. We invite you to remember these almost forgotten four-wheelers of the past.

The first mobile library is believed to have appeared in Warrington, England in the late 1850s. It was a horse-drawn cart and lent about 12,000 books during its first year of service. Later, such mobile public libraries were installed inside vehicles and reached the height of their popularity in the mid-20th century when they had become a part of Americal life and were loved by every bookworm.

Although bookmobiles are still operated in some parts of the world by libraries, schools, activists, and other organizations, they are widely thought to be an outdated service due to high costs, advanced technology, and impracticality.

Now scroll down below and check the vintage photos showcasing a piece from our past!

(h/t: vintageeveryday, messynessychic)

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#1 An Opened Bookmobile, 1925

© Photo: Numismatic Bibliomania Society

#2 The First Bookmobile Of The Public Library Of Cincinnati, 1927

© Photo: Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County

#3 A Mobile Library In Kurdistan, Iran, 1970

© Photo: wikimedia

#4 Inside A Bookmobile, 1960s

© Photo: Bibliobussen

#5 One Of The Library Bookmobiles, C. 1948.

© Photo: Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County

#6 A Bookmobile In Indonesia, Early 20th Century.

© Photo: wikimedia

#7 The Bookmobile In Columbia Park, C. 1940

© Photo: Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County

#8 Bookmobile

© Photo: Multnomah County Library

#9 Book Caravan In Iowa, C.1927

#10 Multnomah County Library, 1926

© Photo: Multnomah County Library

#11 Greensboro, North Carolina, 1936

© Photo: Crossett Library

#12 An Impatient Queue For A Dutch Bookmobile

© Photo: Bibliobussen

#13 The Library’s Bookmobile On Compton Road, C.1933

© Photo: Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County

#14 Three Of The Bookmobile Staff, C.1930

© Photo: Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County

#15 Craig Medvigny (left) And David Sutton Enjoying A Book; Eleanor Mann Substitute Traveling Branch Librarian, C. 1920s

© Photo: Kern County Library

#16 Mrs. Josie Sanders, Richard Sanders, Jerome Sanders And Two Younger Children. C1950s

© Photo: Kern County Library

#17 A Horse-drawn Cart In Washington In The 1900s. It Was One Of The First American Bookmobiles, Built In 1905, But Was Hit And Destroyed By A Train In 1910

© Photo: Crossett Library

#18 A Bookmobile In Indonesia, Early 20th Century.

© Photo: wikimedia

#19 A Mobile Library In Canterbury

© Photo: Christchurch City Libraries

#20 A Boston Public Library Bookmobile, 1963

© Photo: Boston Public Library

#21 A Bus With A View, 1967

© Photo: Bibliobussen

#22 Utah State Library Bookmobile On The Road Circa 1970

© Photo: Utah State Library

#23 The Library’s Bookmobile

© Photo: Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County

#24 Children Gathering At The Bookmobile, C. 1912

© Photo: Kern County Library

#25 Children Gathering At The Kern County Free Library Bookmobile At Aztec School, 1947

© Photo: Kern County Library

#26 A Very Fine Bookmobile Owned By The New Castle County Free Library

© Photo: Anne Arundel Country Public Library

#27 Rockville Fair, Maryland, 1928

#28 A Circulating Library In A Streetcar In Munich, Germany

© Photo: Crossett Library

#29 Bookmobile At Anne Arundel County Fair, 1973

#30 Sanpete County Bookmobile

© Photo: Utah State Library

#31 Summer Rural Service, 1936

© Photo: Multnomah County Library

#32 Bookmobile

© Photo: Multnomah County Library

#33 The Book Caravan, One Of The First Traveling Bookshops, 1920.

#34 Books Free For Everybody, Right At The Door – If You Vote “yes”

© Photo: Hans Krol

#35 Library Bookmobiles In Front Of Union Terminal

© Photo: Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County

#36 The Library’s Bookmobile In Sharonville, Circa 1938

© Photo: Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County

#37 California State Library Bookmobile, C. 1950

© Photo: Kern County Library

#38 Patrons Visiting The Bookmobile

© Photo: Anne Arundel Country Public Library

#39 Bookmobile, Southgate District, C. 1920s

© Photo: Kern County Library

#40 Bookmobile In Madrid Spain

© Photo: Crossett Library

#41 The Library’s First Bookmobile, C. 1927

© Photo: Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County

#42 A Czech Book Truck

© Photo: KMP

#43 Onboard The Connecticut State Library’s Bookmobile With Margaret Sullivan And Marcella Finan, 1967

© Photo: Bristol Public Library

#44 Chris Junapa Standing In The Bookmobile, 1980

© Photo: Kern County Library

#45 Patrons Visiting The Bookmobile

© Photo: Anne Arundel Country Public Library

#46 Patrons Visit The Bookmobile In 1962. Mrs James B. Wilson, Librarian, Performs Readers’ Advisory Service At Far Right

© Photo: Anne Arundel Country Public Library

#47 Carolyn Herntz Assists Patrons Visiting The Bookmobile, 1958

© Photo: Anne Arundel Country Public Library

#48 Patrons Visiting The Bookmobile

© Photo: Anne Arundel Country Public Library

#49 A Photo Of The Bookmobile From Washington County (md) Free Library

© Photo: Anne Arundel Country Public Library

#50 Bookmobile At Headquarters, 1977

© Photo: Kern County Library

#51 Presentation Of The New Bookmobile At The Paris Colonial Exposition Held In Paris France, 1931

© Photo: Crossett Library

#52 Bookmobile, About 1925

© Photo: Multnomah County Library

#53 Bookmobile Interior, May 1927

© Photo: Multnomah County Library

#54 Bookmobile, 1930s

© Photo: Multnomah County Library

#55 Summer Book Wagon, 1928

© Photo: Multnomah County Library

#56 Bookmobile, 1924

© Photo: Multnomah County Library

#57 Kids At Bookmobile

© Photo: Multnomah County Library

#58 A Tram In Berlin With 2400 Books In Berlin, 1952

© Photo: Junge, Peter Heinz

#59 Framingham Public Library, 1956

© Photo: Framingham Public Library Local History

#60 Utah State Library Bookmobile On The Road, 1970

© Photo: Utah State Library

#61 The Bookmobile Of Providence Public Library, 1967

© Photo: Providence Public Library

#62 Paul Buttars, Former Manager Of The Utah State Library Bookmobile Program, In One Of The “older” Bookmobiles. Taken In Chesterfield, Ut, C.1975

© Photo: Utah State Library

#63 The Bicentennial Bookmobile In Utah, 1976

© Photo: Utah State Library

#64 Patrons Visiting The Bookmobile

© Photo: Anne Arundel Country Public Library

#65 Bookmobile, C. 1950

© Photo: Kern County Library

#66 Getting Ready, 1976

© Photo: Kern County Library

#67 Patrons Visiting The Bookmobile In 1962, Assisted By Mrs. James B. Wilson And Mrs. William H. Gary

© Photo: Anne Arundel Country Public Library

#68 Patrons Visit The Bookmobile

© Photo: Anne Arundel Country Public Library

#69 Bookmobile, C. 1950

© Photo: Kern County Library

#70 Interior Of A Circulating Library In A Streetcar In Munich, Germany

© Photo: Crossett Library

#71 Patrons Visiting The Bookmobile

© Photo: Anne Arundel Country Public Library

#72 Bookmobile

© Photo: Multnomah County Library

#73 Patrons In Bookmobile Line

© Photo: Multnomah County Library

#74 Bookmobile, 1999

© Photo: Providence Public Library

#75 Bookmobile

© Photo: Multnomah County Library

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