Monrovia Reads Mobile Literacy Program Overview

Since its launch in March 2018, the Monrovia Reads Van has been visiting the local schools, providing books to the district’s students from kindergarten to high school. It also attends community events, including Monrovia Area Partnership (MAP) events, the annual Spring Egg Hunt, Foothill Unity Center’s Back to School event, and other opportunities throughout Monrovia.

The electric, customized vehicle makes regular stops at each school in the district during the school year. Visit the Library's Events Calendar to see when it will be visiting your school. At each visit, staff process new library card applications, enabling immediate access to the library’s online resources as well as the main library’s larger collection.

Now in its 6th year of service, the program has provided library services to over 36,000 people, who borrowed nearly 14,000 books across 800 visits around Monrovia (March 2018-August 2024).

The Monrovia Reads Van brings with it the resources that our children need to enhance their lives through the power of knowledge. This aligns with the Library’s Strategic Plan goals of supporting literacy and lifelong learning for all residents, regardless of their ability to visit the main library building, as well as keeping residents informed about library services and programs.

Monrovia Reads, our community partner, created virtual storytimes for their annual Read Across Monrovia event. Follow the link to see community members from across Monrovia read their favorite children's books! And thanks to Community Media of the Foothills, home of Monrovia's KGEM-TV for their support of this project.

The Monrovia Reads Mobile Literacy Program is made possible by the generous support of the non-profit organization, Monrovia Reads, Foothill Credit Union, and Sam Wright's State Farm Office. The new electric, customized van was purchased with grant funds from the California State Library's Shared Vision Grant program.