Books on wheels

by Siobhàn O'Connor

Up there with flying circuses and roving theatre troupes is the Montreal-Philadelphia-born Bookmobile project, a unique travelling library of over 300 indie books, zines and artists' books. The group of activists, book-worms and do-gooders behind the project launch their continental tour this weekend when they touch down in Montreal for a two-day to-do. Thanks to NYC's Freecell, the inside of their vintage Airstream vehicle has been set up like a mini library, with custom-sized bookshelves made for the customarily smaller books.

"We are trying to bridge a gap between different communities, particularly between artists and activists," explains Montreal Bookmobiler Leila Pourtavaf. "The works we've collected come from a real variety of people and cover different media that aren't often seen together." Stopping in over 35 cities across the continent, the Bookmobile will be welcomed by community centres, penitentiaries, schools, book fairs and festivals.

Montreal's events include a book-binding workshop, a panel by Books for Prisoners and much more. Pourtavaf also mentioned something about tables and lawn chairs so stop by and recline July 21 at the Centro Social Espanol (4848 St-Laurent) and July 22 at Elle Corazon (176 Bernard W.), 2-6 p.m.

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