Turku City Library’s new electric Mobile Library bus celebrates being made public on World Environment Day June 5th 2020. Library’s Facebook account hosts an all-day virtual program from 10 am to 3 pm. Guest speakers will dive into the process of buying a new library bus, the history of Mobile Library and the wonderful look of the new bus, amongst other topics.

Release party in Facebook June 5th 2020 from 10 am to 3 pm (in FInnish)

  • 10 am Where did it all begin? (live)
    The father of the idea for an electric library bus,  Special Library Assistant Teemu Hiltunen ja Niko Andersson from Jeti Industries Oy tell about the procurement process.
  • 10.30 am Why an electric library bus ?
    Service Manager Kari Pohjola and Information Specialist Gunnar Högnäs talk about the electric library bus as an ethical and ecological choice.
  • 11 am The History of Mobile Library in Turku
    Kalle Varila, a pioneer for Mobile Library tells about the history of Turku Mobile Library.
  • 12 pm Library bus a moving piece of art (live)
    Representatives of the artist collective Turun Anikistit ry talk about the electric library bus as an art project.
  • 12.30 pm Mobile Library bus and Percent for Art
    Regional Artist Hannele Romppanen talks about Percent for Art and a library bus as the subject.
  • 1.15 pm And the name for the new Mobile Library bus is….
    Ana Rantala, the host of the competition for naming the new library bus interviews the competition winner.
  • 2 pm Reveal of the new media art piece on the library bus and the theater LED wall (live)
    Mobile Library bus makes its first stop by the Turku City Theater. Come borrow books and view the new media art piece or participate in virtual environment.
  • 3 pm Mobile Library bus in all its glory
    Library bus will leave for its first rounds from the theater. Enjoy the video that showcases the new bus in all its glory.

Link to the Release party in Facebook

- The procurement process has been long and particularly full of small and bigger surprises towards the end and that has made us face many new things. The Mobile Library staff has been very excited and I am very thankful to them for getting the bus out on its rounds before the summer break. Electric library bus has garnered a lot of interest from all over the world, Service Manager Kari Pohjola rejoices.

Mobile Library bus is a moving piece of art

First thoughts about an electric library bus were voiced in 2015, but the idea took 5 years to mature. Turku has pledged to become a carbon neutral city by 2029, so an electric bus was a natural choice.
 
New electric library bus is made special also because it is the first Mobile Library bus in Finland that doubles as a piece of art. The colourful decals on the bus are the work of a Turku-based artist collective Turun Anikistit and funded by Percent for Art. Artist collective has also designed the new media art piece on the bus windows called Näytönsäästäjä (Screensaver).

We will hear the artists’ thoughts on this different art project and the new media art piece itself. Also in the release party we’ll get to hear the winner of the competition for the name of the new library bus being interviewed and, naturally, the wonderful name, too.
 
Virtual party culminates in the virgin voyage of the new electric Mobile Library bus. The first (extra) stop is the Turku City Theater where the release of the media art piece on the bus will coincide with its counter-part on the theater’s LED wall. The bus will leave for its first actual round from the theater. 

New Mobile Library bus causes some changes in the schedule

The introduction of the new bus causes some minor changes in the bus routes from Friday June 5th on. There is a change of buses on Tuesday and Thursday evening stops. The change applies to approximate-ly twenty stops.

Accurate stops and the summer schedules for all Mobile Library buses are on our website

The Mobile Library summer break in services takes place between July 6th and August 2nd 2020.