Food trucks have been garnering popularity for quite some time now, and currently, Mexico City is following its lead in an atypical form of mobility-- a library. The arts nonprofit, Alumnos47 has created this mobile library by converting a truck into a 215-foot space which can fill up to 1,500 books on subjects such as arts and culture.
Designed by architecture firm, PRODUCTORA, the truck was spinned off an idea to create a public library that specializes in contemporary art in Mexico City's San Miguel Chapultepec neighborhood. After the team realized it would take more than three years to create the stand-still library, the mobile form was conjured.
The mobile library drives itself around Mexico's expansive capital through various neighborhoods, two months at a time. Citlali López Maldonado, the Mobile Library Coordinator at Alumnos47, said to GOOD, "Public education programs in Mexico began with mobile libraries in rural communities. Nowadays we can see many examples of them in Latin America, Spain and the United States, as well."
Alumnos47 hopes to create discussion about contemporary art with a curated selection of books. The idea is to both brings books to the public sphere but also create an unprecedented space for contemporary art, outside of typical spaces such as galleries. With seminars, workshops and special events the mobile library acts as both as cultural center and library. "People love the truck. They get very impressed about the inside space, the book collection and the possibilities it offers for finding images, book reading and getting acquainted with contemporary art," Maldonado said to GOOD. Ultimately, they hope to make the truck a permanent project.
