, By LUCILLE FISHER Tiddlycover is a . plain green 3-year-old truck that is too short to accommodate six-footers, too stubborn to relinquish her books on the top shelves, and sometimes when the battery is low — too dark to distinguish Tolstoy from Trollope. She whisks 3,000 volumes around the community each week, happily belching out bags full of books at each stop. Tiddlycover is the West Vancouver Book- mobile. The author Christopher Morley called bookmobiles “caravans of Culture.” Benjamin.‘ Disraeli praised . their nineteenth Century forerunners for “bringing books tothe hearth of all.” ‘These ' “chariots of cheer” are native to. almost every populated country’ in the world: a Bibliotrain in . France, a book-boat in the fiords of Norway. Every year the Parnassus, a Peace River Bookmobile makes the “sam e'time next year” 2000- - mile, gravel road visit to the Yukon. . Scottish folklore tells ‘us that brandy wasn’t the only cargo that dogs delivered — they « ‘also took books to yshepherds. est Vancouver Memorial Library is helping the history of bookmobiles to unfold. There was a time eleven years ago that a fledgling- venture was em- barked upon by Mrs. Musto (chief librarian) and Rosalind Watts (board member). They purchased a 1956 Chevie bookmobile for $2000.00. It was ready for the bone yard then and yet, like Black Beauty, it had heart. There was a great fanfare on the initial run7“A tea was held at the library for all the dignitaries. Mary Kerr, who was chairwoman for the board, gave a toast to the success of the Bookmobile, and without further adieu it was sent rollicking on its way to Horseshoe Bay. The high of the moment lasted to 3st Street, whereupon Tiddlycover gave a great shudder and the 2'A foot long gear shift came right gut in the hand of the driver. With a welcoming party waiting at the other end, and so much at stake on the first run, the driver jammed the stick back in the hole where it landed in of “I asked first,” ‘ Tiddlycover’s second gear and held fast all the way to Horseshoe Bay. That was the beginning of the great Bookmobile love affair with West Vancouver. Books and the open road found a deserving friend, a bus full of books — the visiting companion of literacy. The day now begins with a hurried check for specially reserved books, a glance at the gas gauge, an armful of taped books, and she’s off. Careening through detours,. fog, floods, up and down the wild hills of West Van- couver. She is just as comfortable parked beside the Park Royal Towers as she is at Horseshoe Bay. As ‘soon as she ‘stops, Tiddlycover is invaded by ‘young and old folk, ' struggling with huge bags of last week's reading. - Everyone is happy; it’s a loud and boisterous place. People exchange recipes and cures, and collectively worry about world catastrophes and inflation. Some . just come to visit for a moment to be a part of things. Sometimes it is.a quiet place, as adults and children alike browse the shelves for hidden delights. Excited children rush in and ask, “Are there any Tin Tins?” “Yes, only one. ” A chorus goes up and very carefully it has to be determined who in fact did have their hand up first. A delighted adult: “Oh you brought James Herriot’s ‘Yorkshire’ for me, thank heavens.” Three years ago old transmission tower crumbled and it was decided that she wasn’t safe to roam at large any longer. She now sits serenely on the top of a spear grass hill, beside a beautiful lake in the Okanagan. Her shelves filled with coal oil lamps, running shoes and fishing gear. She makes a great cxtra tent. We now have a green GMC truck, which we turned into a second Tid- dlycover Bookmobile. 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