City of Anaheim Puts New CNG Bookmobile Into Service

ANAHEIM, CA – In keeping with the city’s commitment to the environment, and to remain pro-active in emissions reductions, the city of Anaheim unveiled a new CNG-powered bookmobile Sept. 30. This new bookmobile is only the second of its kind in the United States. Built by Matthews Specialty Vehicles, and sold through California Bus Sales, the bookmobile is powered by an 8.1L John Deere engine. The new bookmobile is an environmentally friendly heavy vehicle with energy-efficient heating, cooling, and lighting. The city has a total of 17 CNG-powered pieces of equipment, with two more on order and soon to be delivered. These units run the gamut from Honda Civic sedans to Chevrolet pickup trucks, to a three-axle sewer “Vactor” truck and a 55-foot aerial tree trimming truck. This new bookmobile will be the second bookmobile operated by the city of Anaheim. It will compliment the current bookmobile, allowing the expansion of services to the low-income, high-density neighborhoods where residents have limited access to a regular library. The first bookmobile is one of the busiest in the state per number of books circulated to patrons. Last year with 17 weekly stops, the one bookmobile helped 51,409 patrons and circulated 119,435 books. Anaheim hopes to increase this number by 30-35 percent with the new CNG bookmobile in service. With the addition of the CNG bookmobile, six new stops will be added for a total of 23 weekly stops between the two bookmobiles. When funding permits, there is the potential to add additional stops. The new unit was funded through various mechanisms, including Community Development Block Grants and the California Public Library Fund administered through the city of Anaheim, donations from the Anaheim Public Library Foundation, a Mobile Source Reduction Committee (MSRC) grant, and funding for the graphics wrap and an energy efficiency rebate from the Anaheim Public Utilities Department. Combining these multiple resources, the city was able to completely fund the new bookmobile without using any General Fund money.