Utah County service is one for the books

PROVO — Utah Valley may not have a countywide library system, but that doesn't mean residents of small cities such as Genola, Alpine and Saratoga Springs aren't reading circulated books.

In fact, according to Kent Slade, Utah County's director librarian for the Bookmobile — basically a library on wheels — those small towns and about 2,000 other registered users in unincorporated areas in the county are responsible for checking out about 5,000 Bookmobile books every month.

Utah County commissioners are looking to renew their contract with the state library system in order to continue to provide the service to remote areas of the county.

Several towns, including Genola, Saratoga Springs, Alpine and Mapleton, are also set to renew interlocal agreements with the county to receive the service. It also makes stops in other parts of the county.

"Circulation numbers have definitely increased," Slade said of the countywide Bookmobile system, which thrives in areas where no strong, fixed library base exists.

County commissioners and involved cities determine where the Bookmobile stops.

State taxes, earmarked by legislation, help pay for the service, the cost of which is shared by the county and contracted cities.

According to Utah County Commissioner Jerry Grover, the cost for participating cities is between $5,000 and $7,000, depending on how many stops the Bookmobile makes in each city.

Some smaller cities in the county have asked for a countywide library system several times over the years and been rebuffed, but the Bookmobile is somewhat of a compromise, Grover said.

"It's kind of useless to talk about a countywide library system and compare it to (Salt Lake County's countywide system), because Salt Lake started with a county library system and the cities bought into it," Grover said. "I'm not opposed to a countywide system, but I can't see it happening with (Utah County's) 'have' and 'have-not' cities."

Alpine Mayor Hunt Willoughby, a fan of the Bookmobile, said several mayors in north Utah County are joining forces to create a system that is more than a mobile service but less than a full-scale library.

Some of the cities are already working together. For example, Alpine residents can be reimbursed if they purchase a library card to American Fork's library, Willoughby said.