This was another serendipity moment. We were checking out the niche little town of Melrose in South Australia when I saw this mobile library! Here is their timetable for the first half of 2022 – just in case you’re in the Mt Remarkable and Port Pirie regional areas.

Date of visit: 7 September 2021

Features: This mobile library serves the Mt Remarkable, Northern Areas and Port Pirie regional councils of South Australia. The bus comes every two weeks (eg. in Melrose every Tuesday between 3-5pm).

At the time of the visit, the mobile library stocked limited material for adults and children including fiction/non-fiction, DVDs, CDs, and magazines. Clients could borrow, return and reserve items here. There was also a PC and free Wi-fi available for use in the bus/truck. It was well-used by locals but I think they would do well to promote this service to visitors as well.

Overall Impression: I love this library service. It was reaching out to people that could not physically access library material because of the town’s remoteness. I believe it was a more viable option than renting a room/building in the town that would be empty half of the time. Well done South Australia for your progressive thinking and looking after our remote communities.