For those less mobile, library on wheels fills need for books
The Pauline Z. Smith Bookmobile of the West Haven Library has been on the road since 1971, much to the delight of bookworms young and old.
Though the vehicles used to be common in municipalities across the state, bookmobiles are now mostly a thing of the past.
“Mostly” may overstate the situation
While it’s true that there are fewer bookmobiles (reported to IMLS) in 2009 than, say, 199, “mostly” may be an overstatement. There were 907 of them in 1999, 825 in 2004, and 771 in 2009. Unless there were more than 1,500 at some point in the past (possible, I suppose), it’s not the case that they’re mostly gone.
On the other hand, that’s the only class of public library outlet for which even “fewer than there used to be” is an accurate statement, for the US as a whole.