CURRENT POSITION Library Satellite Coordinator, Macon Branch, Brooklyn Public Library, NY DEGREE MLIS Pratt Institute, 2014 FAST FACT Weinstein once worked in a high-end toy store in London and sold toys to Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman, Andie MacDowell, and Ozzy Osborne. FOLLOW bklynlibrary.org/bookmobile Photo by Fenella Fletcher

Bookmobiling It

When Robert Weinstein began working at Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) in early 2021, most branches still offered only lobby services because of COVID-19 restrictions, and bookmobile services were shut down entirely. Weinstein was hired to get the library’s bookmobiles back up and running using an all-outdoor bookmobile service model.

BPL’s bookmobiles were back in service within three months, and service branched out to churches, parks, community centers, and closed branches. The expanded fleet includes a traveling TechMobile funded by NYC Mayor Eric Adams and a Cookmobile to support food pantry service. For BPL’s 125th birthday in 2022, three vehicles became Cakemobiles and handed out 1,700 cupcakes.

BPL logged 183 bookmobile outings in 2021 and 298 in 2022, with 2023 numbers on track to exceed last year’s. Each route is tailored to specific community interests, with books curated based on genre, language, and preferred subjects. Weinstein is exploring sites for deposit collections and satellite branches to support hard-to-reach neighborhoods.

Weinstein hopes to expand the existing TechMobile program—which offers gaming; a MakerSpace; photography, film, DJ, and podcast equipment; and STEM programming—to connect with artists and organizations in underserved communities. He recently pitched an ARTMobile project in partnership with BPL’s BKLYN Incubator program, received $10,000 in funding, and launched the program in April 2023.

Weinstein enjoys telling people about his work with bookmobiles. “They usually smile and tell me stories about their own visits to the bookmobiles when they were younger,” he says. “I love that.”