Key Hyundai Sponsoring This Summer's Vernon Bookmobile

The Vernon Bookmobile has about 5,000 books in its rolling library in 2012, its second year in operation.

It has a full schedule this summer.

It has the Vernon Community Network squarely behind it.

It has a catchy motto - "Spread the Word, Read by the 3rd."

Now it has a major corporate sponsor.

In an Old-Fashioned ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday at Key Hyundai on Route 83, dealership owner Jill Merriam presented a check for $1,900 to town officials  to foot the bill for the Bookmobile's operational costs this summer.

On hand at the ceremony were Maple Street School Principal Lois Posell, Superintendent of Schools Mary Conway and Mayor George Apel.

Possell said that she always remembers a bookmobile in her neighborhood while growing up in the Midwest, so she put together a plan for last summer.

"I thought it might be a good way to reach kids who don't have a chance to get to the public library," she said.

Merriam said she was approached about a meeting with Youth Services Director Alan Slobodien about getting involved in the program after she donated the use of some cars to transport veterans for the Memorial Day parade in town.

"I was shown a budget, I listened to the presentation and I saw three charts," Merriam said. "My mom just retired from the New Haven school system so the risks of the population not exposed to learning opportunities hit on all cylinders."

Most of the books have been donated through the annual Superintendent's Challenge to local students, so the funding from Key Hyundai will go toward operating the school bus decorated with Bookmobile logos.

For the full Bookmobile schedule, check out the Vernon Community Network Web site.

The bookmobile is a collaboration between organizations that include the local school system, the local school readiness council, the VCN and the local youth services department.