Belgium/A library on wheels makes its appearance on the Lillois market

Since the closure of the Lillois library, some residents have felt a little orphaned. But on Wednesday April 16, a curious white vehicle drew attention in the market square: a bibliocamionnette.

Isabelle came with her three children. Julia, the eldest, aged 11, left with a book of magic tricks."We're big fans of reading," explains their mom. "We've been coming to the Lillois library since the kids were born. Now that it's closed, we're testing out the mobile library. We'll see if it meets our expectations."

From now on, the bookmobile, or Place aux livres, will stop every three weeks in Lillois, from 3pm to 5pm, before heading for Ophain.

"We travel just about everywhere and for all age groups," explains Caroline Tilmanne, director of the traveling library. "We offer albums, comics, mangas, novels for all ages, magazines, audio books, even CDs. And new releases are here too!"

Readers can also reserve their books in advance via the internet to be sure of finding them on the bus.

"The bookmobile will be here until the end of August," explains alderman Chantal Versmissen-Sollie. "We'll see if it works, if there's a demand, since we realize that most people go to the Braine-l'Alleud library and don't really have any major travel problems to get there. So, if it doesn't work, it won't be sustainable. But if we see that it's catching on, that there's a public, why not continue on a permanent basis, both in Lillois and in Ophain."

In the meantime, the bibliocamionnette is filling up with readers. Next appointment: May 7.

Source: www.rtbf.be/