Adventures of a Bookmobile Driver Stories shared by a member of the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District staff. My name is Judy Bane and I have been driving the Klickitat County Bookmobile for more than 15 years. Kids who grew up using the bookmobile now bring their spouses or babies The bookmobile makes regular stops at the Dallesport School. to introduce them to me. College kids who are home for the summer stop in just to visit and catch up on what they've been doing. They frequently tell me how much they looked forward to the bookmobile, as some of them led pretty isolated lives far from towns and neighbors. Our stops are as varied as our population. One of our stops is described as located "under the biggest pine tree in Timber Valley" and everyone knows right where it is. Since we are such a rural county, a lot of my regulars are home-schooling mothers. They give me lists of what they need and I bring or send their materials. A mother and son peruse through several items in the bookmobile collection. The teachers at our small schools depend on us to supplement their lessons. One teacher asked for books about the ocean to prepare for a field trip to Long Beach. When the students returned the books after their trip, five girls chanted "thank you, thank you, thank you!" while another girl counted off by tens until she reached one thousand; her message to me from the teacher was, "a thousand times, thank you!" Several years ago, there was a wildfire raging in the brush land east of us. When I got to the bottom of Rock Creek Grade, the sheriff advised me to turn around or take a detour up Dot Road. Down the canyon I went, and then up the steep grade that is Dot Road. I was almost an hour late getting to Bickleton, yet people were waiting for me in the store/café. They called up others who were anxious to use the bookmobile and said, "She's here!" One woman called and asked me to wait so she could drive around the fire to reach me. Of course, I waited. One of the stops is at a rural church. During another trip to Bickleton, I discovered almost a foot of snow when I reached the other side of the Grade. I made it to my first stop in Cleveland half an hour late. Alfred, who lives in the community there, was just coming out of his house, putting on his heavy coat. He came on board and said, "I was just gonna come looking for you!" His concern warmed my heart. Another day, I came back from Bickleton and told my boss that I was a celebrity. "How so?" she asked. "Well," I said, "it had snowed there and not only had the county road boys plowed out my lunch spot beside the road across from the church, Alfred had shoveled the path to my outhouse in Cleveland. I am a celebrity."          On our way to Appleton one summer, we discovered that the Appleton Grade was closed. We decided to detour by way of Wahkiacus, so up the hill we went. We drove and drove and drove. The log truck behind us kept telling us on the CB to go on ahead, since our road was right up ahead. Pretty soon, we're driving through log landings, waving at the dumbfounded loader operators. We made it to Appleton only 15 minutes late. An excited group of teens checks out what the bookmobile has to offer. Speaking of log trucks, we used a detour one summer that had about a mile of the most narrow, twisted road I've ever seen. There was room on the curves for one vehicle and lots of them were blind curves. One day as I approached the turnoff at the bottom of the hill, a log truck was sitting at the stop sign. As I turned into his road, I picked up my CB to ask how they were calling the corners so I could warn the trucks of my presence. Before I could key the mike, the log truck driver bellowed into his CB, "Look out, boys!! It's the BOOKMOBILE!" Storytimes during the summer are a special time. We've had kids come to town on horseback to return books and listen to stories. They were puzzled when we asked to take their picture for our scrapbook; their method of travel was not unusual for them. Another time, a grandma brought all the visiting grandkids (and more than a few neighbor kids) in from the harvest fields to have lunch and hear a story. As I looked out the window at the crowd of kids listening intently, I noticed Grandpa, his piece of pie forgotten in his hand as he leaned over the arm of his chair, also listening raptly to the story. Our bookmobiles are an important part of everyday life for many as they bring services, programs and a sense of connection to those living in the far reaches of our wide-spread district. A patron of mine lives nine miles from her mailbox and you can bet she almost always makes it to the bookmobile stop. I feel a great sense of fulfillment from this job. People are so happy to see me arrive. I am proud to be part of the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District because it provides such needed service as this to our rural communities. Judy first shared these stories as an oral report at the June 2007 library board meeting, held at Goldendale Community Library. We enjoyed her stories so much that we wanted to share them more widely. Judy is a valuable member of the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District staff.