The wind may not have been blowing in the willows but the Palm trees were waving as a new chapter opened for bibliophiles at the Woodland Public Library.

After more than three years of work, a bookmobile was unveiled to a crowd of around 150 people, who also got to take tours throughout the library, ride a miniature train and generally get enlightened on the fun of reading.

Held on a cold and gusty Saturday morning in the parking lot of the library at 250 First St. near downtown Woodland, the celebration included a traditional ribbon-cutting and visits from notable children’s book characters such “Frog and Toad,” of “Frog and Toad Are Friends” picture books, written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel; and “Elephant and Piggie,” a book series for early readers created by Mo Willems.

Librarian Greta Galindo, standing before the bookmobile and surrounded by staff, said the event was “very exciting.”

“This has been a project three years in the making,” and the brainchild of Priscilla Gordon, a Friend of the Library and dedicated library patron, added Galindo, who said the bookmobile was named “Priscilla” in her honor.

The bookmobile holds a collection of 3,000 books, DVDs, audiobooks and free Wi-Fi for people across the city to check out. Also offered as the bookmobile makes its way throughout town will be story times and delivery of books checked out via the internet.

Galindo also introduced the bookmobile librarian, Casey Wilson, who will drive the vehicle, “so make sure you wave to her when you see it go by.”

“This is really a proud moment for the community of Woodland to be able to have a mobile service like this,” she concluded.

Authorization to spend $650,000 for the customized mobile library was granted in late 2022 by the Woodland City Council. Funding included $121,000 from the California State Library and $252,835 from the Priscilla H. Gordon Trust bequeathed to the Woodland Public Library Board of Trustees with the balance of $274,116 from the Measure R Fund.

City Manager Ken Hiatt explained in a report during the council meeting at the time that once the mobile library is deployed, the truck will accommodate up to five or six people including two additional staff members.

“People are going to be able to check out books, peruse some of the books that they have…and there will be computers as well for individuals to be able to access resources at the library through the online database,” Hiatt said.

The city staff report stated that Woodland is 15.4 square miles but has only a single library no longer centrally located for many residents.

“The library seeks to provide library services to the community with a special emphasis on low-income and Latino residents of Woodland,” the report emphasized. “A mobile library to visit residents that are not currently using the library to bring library services to the community on a regular and consistent basis.”

The report added that there is a need for a mobile library because more than 40% of households in Woodland have zero or one vehicle at home used for transportation to and from work leaving the rest of the household without personal transportation.

“In addition, three-quarters of 4th-grade students reading below grade level are economically disadvantaged and over 20% of Woodland adults do not have a high school (or equivalent) education,” a report by Hiatt stressed. “There is a large need for families to receive information, literacy services and job readiness training to improve their lives and those of their families.”

Additionally, the report noted that the English-speaking population in Woodland is 1.5 times the size of the Spanish-speaking population, yet the English story times at the library have nearly 10 times as many participants as the Spanish.

“There is a large segment of our population that do not go into the library to participate in early literacy activities,” the report argued. “A mobile library will promote reading and literacy by bridging the gap between existing library users and those who do not currently visit the library. It will create new venues for access to library and registrations, story times, circulating collections and other library services to parks, apartment buildings, neighborhoods and events to expand the impact of our libraries on the community.”