New Mobile Library for Youth and Family Unveiled

  • By Baltimore County Public Library

We are thrilled to introduce its latest innovation in community outreach—the STREAM Vehicle, a mobile library designed to bring educational programming with cutting-edge technology, creativity and fun to youth and families across Baltimore County. Along with traditional services, this library on wheels offers hands-on experiences with makerspaces, fiber arts, virtual reality, gaming, music creation, and traditional arts and crafts. 

Our goal is for the activities on this vehicle to closely mirror the experience youth have visiting one of our 19 branches. This truck has room to house books from the library’s collection and provides opportunities for 21st century library programming. STREAM activities build foundational skills of problem-solving, critical thinking, and analytical reasoning while promoting curiosity, creativity, innovation, and exploration while often working in a collaborative environment.  

“The mission of Baltimore County Public Library is to provide spaces and opportunities where people can explore, learn, create and connect. This STREAM vehicle exemplifies our commitment to our mission and the communities we serve,” said CEO Sonia Alcántara-Antoine. “This vehicle is breaking down barriers of access by reaching families and kids where they are and providing access to books and technology that support discovery, play, and learning.” 

Planning for a new mobile vehicle started in 2019 by asking bookmobile users what they would like to see in a new mobile unit. It quickly became apparent that there was a need and a want for educational programming to accompany the books. After a pandemic delay, the custom-built STREAM vehicle is now ready to hit Baltimore County roads, bringing exciting new opportunities to communities that need library services the most.  

What's Inside

Features of the vehicle: 

  • Physical collections for youth and families
  • A rotation of activities with maker technologies, including Cricut and heat press
  • Fiber arts, virtual reality, gaming, coding, music creation, traditional arts and crafts

Equipment on the vehicle includes: 

  • Flatscreen TVs 
  • iPads 
  • Laptop 
  • Musical instruments, including a theremin and digital synthesizer effects builder
  • Nintendo Switch
  • PlayStation 5 
  • Virtual reality headset 

Funding Support

This vehicle is made possible thanks to the generous support of Foundation for Baltimore County Public Library, with funding from:

  • Harry and Jeannette Weinberg Foundation
  • PNC Foundation
  • David and Barbara B. Hirschhorn Foundation
  • Maryland State Library and Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)
  • BGE

The STREAM Vehicle will be making stops after school hours throughout the county in areas where young people typically have less access to library services. To learn more about the schedule, visit our Youth Services tab.

CategoryNews