So the bookmobile started as a bookmobile in Pittsburgh for 20 years.

And so I purchased it after its retirement.

We originally bought it to transport printing equipment from Pittsburgh to Anchorage.

And my plan was to sell it to somebody in Anchorage to be used as a camper or a food truck.

And every time we stopped at a gas station, somebody came up and talked to us about the bookmobile in their small hometown and how much they loved bookmobile.

Like when we stopped at campsites, people would leave stacks of books on the hood.

The goodwill towards the bookmobile was such that by the time we got to Anchorage, it was sort of realized like, oh no, we shouldn't get rid of this and have it turn into something else.

It would be much, much better to keep it as a bookmobile, I think, and build on that.

When you're driving from Pittsburgh to Anchorage at a maximum of 55 miles an hour, you, like spend so much time in that vehicle that you become a little bit attached.

I'm Jimmy Riordan.

I'm from here in Anchorage, Alaska, and I operate the Alaska bookmobile.

So the Alaska Bookmobile is a set of resources on wheels.

It's a free library and, mobile venue.

And the library is full of free books.

We always have young adult and children's books in one area.

We show up for community events like the Fish Creek Trick or treat, event.

So in that, we hand out candy and free books.

The outdoor movies have really become a big part of our programing.

We have this screen, and so we project on the side of the bus and can do it wherever we want.

So we do maybe 6 or 7 of those a winter.

Because our season is obviously limited by light community and having connections with people and being there for people and feeling supported and having friends and like feeling like you're a part of your city is important to enjoying living in that city.

I can't imagine those things not being important.