After two years of planning, designing and manufacturing, the new Jefferson County Library bookmobile is now on the road.

“Strengthening our commitment to bring quality library services to every community we serve, the library is pleased to introduce a new, colorful, state-of-the-art mobile library,” Meredith Wagner, director of the county library, said in a press release.

The bookmobile serves individuals living in the outlying communities of Jefferson County who may have difficulty traveling to the library in Port Hadlock. The vehicle extends library services to the larger community and helps to lessen the digital divide, and is to provide full access to library collections, including books, movies, music, magazines and more.

“The new mobile library is a key component in the library’s goal to connect our community with information, tools and resources to enrich their lives,” said Wagner.

The public is invited to get a first look at the new bookmobile at a ribbon-cutting ceremony during the library’s holiday open house, taking place at 3 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 10 at the library, 620 Cedar Ave., Port Hadlock.

A second celebration is to be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 12 at the Quilcene Community Center, 294952 U.S. Hwy. 101.

Total cost for the new vehicle was $234,227. Funding for the new vehicle was provided by the rural library district, which has been saving for the replacement of this vehicle over the past 12 years.

More spacious than the 2003 model, the new vehicle offers a wide center aisle for better access and features greater shelf capacity thanks to an innovative design that brings the floor height above the wheel wells. The bookmobile also features improved staff work space to better serve customers and pull-out benches for early-learning classes. A new awning provides shade for children and parents who attend programs in the warmer months.

The ultralow emissions vehicle was built by TriVan Truck Body of Ferndale, Washington. It is the first mobile library built by TriVan, a businesses that has a solid reputation in the specialty vehicle market, and the engine meets stringent 2014 EPA greenhouse gas and fuel efficiency regulations, Wagner said.

“This classification equates to an 83.3 percent reduction in nitrogen oxides and a 90 percent reduction in particulate matter over the library’s current bookmobile engine,” said Michael Swendrowski of Specialty Vehicle Services, who helped the library with the project.

“The feature that the mobile library services staff team is most excited about is the fact that the new vehicle also features a hybrid operational power system,” said Judith Lucia, the public library's mobile services manager. The ultraclean and quiet operational power system maximizes efficiency and minimizes neighborhood impact. High-efficiency climate control and LED lighting systems work seamlessly with innovative battery packs and solar panels to provide clean and quiet power with an 80 percent reduction in generator run time.

“This will also help maximize the life of the generator,” said Lucia.

The vehicle was built with eco-friendly construction materials: Interior fabrications were created with materials certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and finished with low-VOC finishes, and the flooring is made from renewable materials, contributing to LEED 2.0 Materials and Resources certification.

The Jefferson County Library mobile services team visits seven communities in East Jefferson County and is on the road five days a week, lending about 55,000 items a year. Service extends from the Coyle Peninsula to Quilcene and Brinnon, to Cape George, Gardiner, Paradise Bay and Port Ludlow, and serves a cross-section of the county’s population, from preschoolers to seniors. Residents of Jefferson County’s West End are served through contracts and reciprocal borrowing agreements with the North Olympic Library System, to the north, and the Timberland Regional Library System, to the south.

For more information about the Jefferson County Library and the mobile library schedule, call 385-6544 or visit jclibrary.info.