Longtime book bus driver likes the ‘people contact’

Annie Naylor has driven the Dunedin Public Libraries 
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Annie Naylor has driven the Dunedin Public Libraries book bus for 25 years. Photo by Joshua Riddiford

People contact has been the main appeal for one longtime Dunedin City Libraries book bus driver.

''I like that people contact and ... one of the real major components of the job is you've got to be people-friendly,'' said Annie Naylor, who has been driving the book bus for 25 years.

During her tenure behind the wheel of the bus, there were regular users of the bus who had crossed generations, she said.

''You get regular people at the book bus every week, every fortnight. I've seen kids who come to the book buses as 5-year-olds, 7-year-olds, 12-year-olds and I now see their children coming to the book bus.''

Miss Naylor said the book bus allowed people who were unable to come to the physical library to keep up with their reading.

While typical book bus patrons were young children who accessed the bus on its stops at schools, and the elderly, there were also some in between, Miss Naylor said.

''In amongst it, there is someone who might be a shift worker who just coincides [time at home with] going to the book bus.''

To provide the best service to users of the book bus, it was important to keep abreast of what was popular in the book world, Miss Naylor said.

It ''definitely pays to keep contact with what's going on''.

''You do have to keep on your toes; what the latest book awards are.

''You tend to keep up with those and know what people are writing, so when someone says `this is the kind of book I like' you can actually choose the book for them.''

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