LAPL Bookmobile

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A patriotic-looking banner hangs along the upper side of a Los Angeles Public Library Bookmobile that is parked along 5th and Flower streets. It is possible that the vehicle has been decorated to promote a celebration of some kind. The Westin Bonaventure Hotel is visible in the background. As early as 1949 these bookmobiles, or "libraries on wheels", began taking books to the mostly disadvantaged, low-income areas, or the outlying sections of the city where community libraries had not been established. The Los Angeles Public Library's fleet of bookmobiles was comprised of 3 large vans usually loaded with 4,000 books, and a smaller one known as "Little Toot" that usually carried 3,000 books. They had 28 scheduled stops each week to such places as housing developments, shopping centers, parks, and schools that varied anywhere from an hour to three hours. It is estimated that these Traveling Branches circulated almost 250,000 volumes a year.