Perry County library takes storytime to the bookmobile this summer

Families heading to the JFK Swimming Pool parking lot in Tell City this summer will find storytime there too. Perry County Public Library is moving its Children’s Department programming onto the Perry County Bookmobile for three midday sessions, giving children a chance to hear stories, sing, and climb aboard the mobile library without making an extra stop across town.

Storytime on the Bookmobile is scheduled for June 18, July 9, and July 30 at 12:30 p.m. The library calendar lists each program as running from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., and the setting is meant to be easygoing: a relaxed outdoor space where children can enjoy stories, laughter, and a look inside the Bookmobile itself.

That format matters because it puts early literacy in a place families already use during the summer recreation season. Instead of asking parents to add another errand, the library is building reading time into a familiar public gathering spot. For preschoolers and early elementary children, the mix of books, songs, and movement turns reading into something active and social, not just something that happens quietly inside a building.

The Bookmobile also gives the library a flexible way to reach residents who might not stop at a branch on a given day. Perry County Public Library lists the Tell City Branch at 2328 Tell Street in Tell City and the Cannelton Branch at 210 S. 8th Street in Cannelton, while the Bookmobile appears separately in the site’s navigation and calendar system as its own outreach service. That distinction shows how the library is extending its services beyond fixed locations and into public spaces where families are already spending time.

Storytime on the Bookmobile is part of a larger summer push at the library. The Children’s and Young Adult Summer Reading Program runs May 26 through July 17, and Summer Reading Bingo for adults ages 18 and older runs May 26 through July 14. Taken together, those programs point to a countywide effort to keep residents reading while school is out, with the Bookmobile serving as one of the most visible ways Perry County Public Library is taking that work into the community.