Make way for Van Diesel.
Public officials, library staff, support groups, and community members gathered in Library Plaza on Wednesday to celebrate the new Library on the Go van, the second in the Santa Barbara Public Library’s mobile “fleet” of vehicles designed as what Library Director Brandon Beaudette described as “our mobile outreach operation that meets patrons where they are by bringing library services directly onto our streets.”
Dubbed “Van Diesel” by the library staff (check out their delightful Instagram video here) the new van effectively joins the OG of library vans — ”Vincent Van Gogh” — to effectively double the services provided to the community.
Doubling those services provides great value to all the community, not to mention great “bang for the buck.” The purchase of the $300,000 Mercedes-Benz sprinter van was made possible thanks to a grant from the California State Library and a generous donation from the James M. Cox Foundation. It’s an upgrade from the first Library on the Go van, which was funded by the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara.
As the mobile branch of the Santa Barbara Public Library system, Library on the Go brings library services directly to people where they live, work, and play. With recurring stops, attendance at community events, and special pop-ups, the Library on the Go allows people to access library services in unexpected places, building community and promoting literacy. In 2025, Library on the Go delivered 709 hours of public service at 373 stops throughout the community.
Cute commemorative cookies at the Library Van on the Go celebration | Photo: Anthony Zell, Santa Barbara Public Library 
Library Administrative Assistant Caitlin Fitch and Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation Executive Director Lauren Trujillo at the Library Van on the Go celebration | Photo: Anthony Zell, Santa Barbara Public Library 
City Library Board Members at the Library Van on the Go celebration | Photo: Anthony Zell, Santa Barbara Public Library 
Library Director Brandon Beaudette at the Library Van on the Go celebration | Photo: Anthony Zell, Santa Barbara Public Library 
Supervising librarian for outreach Lisa Gonzalez at the Library Van on the Go celebration | Photo: Anthony Zell, Santa Barbara Public Library 
Library staff at the Library Van on the Go celebration | Photo: Anthony Zell, Santa Barbara Public Library 
Library staff at the Library Van on the Go celebration. In the background is a historic photo of a library bookmobile. | Photo: Anthony Zell, Santa Barbara Public Library
“Libraries are all about access. Access to books, access to information, access to ways to connect with each other in a more meaningful place than this device in my hand and all of this access is more important now than ever. So when people ask me what I do at work, a smile spreads across my face. You see, not only do I get to work with stories which I love and also share my love of those stories with the people around me, but I also make it possible for our library staff to come out into the community and hear other people’s stories, said Lisa Gonzalez, supervising librarian for outreach.
“It helps us do what we do best, which is connecting with our community.”
To find out when the Library on the Go will visit a location near you, visit the library’s event calendar. For more information on the mobile branch, visit library.santabarbaraca.gov/visit/library-go.
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