100 Years on the Road | 1923–2023

When it was time to name the Library’s first Bookmobile, Parker Schools Superintendent L.P. Hollis started a naming contest and offered a $10 prize to the winner. Two mill community residents, both patrons of the new book truck, suggested the name ‘Pathfinder.’ They split the prize money, and history was made. Librarian Nelle Barmore was the first to take the Pathfinder along its route through the Textile Crescent.

In the November 16, 1923 issue of the Joy Maker (The Parker Mills newspaper), librarian Charlotte Templeton reported that the Pathfinder had been incredibly successful in its first month of service. So successful, in fact, that more books had to be purchased from local booksellers in Greenville and ordered from Columbia and Atlanta to fulfill demand.

As word spread of the Library’s mobile book services, it became necessary to add additional vehicles. A second Bookmobile was purchased, and a book trailer was constructed that could be pulled behind the Bookmobile and dropped off at the most rural stops.

The Library established book deposits around the county once two Bookmobiles and the new branch libraries could not keep up with the needs of residents. These deposits were rotating collections of books placed in schools, shops, community centers, and private residences. The deposits were managed by residents and refilled by Bookmobile librarians at regular intervals (bimonthly, monthly or once every two months). In 1935, The Greenville News reported that the Library maintained six branch locations, 35 Bookmobile stops, and 161 book deposits.

Although Greenville’s public libraries were segregated until 1960, Bookmobile service was provided to African-American schools beginning in 1924, increasing access for Black patrons who were not able to visit the Phillis Wheatley Center’s small library collection. Annie Watters McPheeters was hired as the first African-American Bookmobile librarian in 1934. After working in Greenville for two years, she became the first professional African-American librarian in the Atlanta Public Library System, where she oversaw three branches and worked for the integration of public libraries.

The Library added its first walk-in Bookmobile in 1949. This Bookmobile held twice as many volumes as any of the previous models and included a checkout counter, bulletin board, and a heating and air conditioning system.

Carrie Wilson (seated at the counter) was the Bookmobile’s first full-time assistant. The New Washington Heights stop where this photo was taken was the Library’s first permanent African-American Bookmobile stop.

By the 1970s, the Library had a fleet of five Bookmobiles and made 76 stops every week. These stops included neighborhoods, apartment complexes, shopping centers, schools, and churches. Additional stops were added in the summer when children were not able to visit their school libraries.

As new branch libraries were opened in the 1990s, the need for Bookmobile stops declined, and the fleet of Bookmobiles was gradually phased out. The Library purchased this Bookmobile in 1991 to replace the older models, and it was used until 2006. In 1992, the Bookmobile made 33 stops every two weeks.

Today, the Bookmobile makes 16 stops each month, and outreach librarians serve over 100 homebound patrons. In 2022, nearly 13,000 items were checked out by Bookmobile patrons.