*When the Sohn family traveled by housetrailer to the ALA Conference during the summer of 1937, Mr. Sohn visualized the transformation of the vehicle into a book trailer which could furnish library service to outlying sections of the community. Consequently, a 16 foot shell was ordered for the library from Schult Trailers, Inc. of Elkhart, Indiana. A local contractor was engaged to make wooden shelving for the book trailer.
Total expenditure for the Trailer Branch was less than $700. The necessary motive power was provided by the local Package Delivery Truck. Within the book collection of the trailer, there were "610 volumes of adult fiction, 333 volumes of adult non-fiction and foreign languages, and seventy-six picture books" for preschoolers. Since there were book collections on deposit in the city schools, the Trailer Branch did not include library materials for elementary school children. Trailer service began in 1938.
*Excerpted from Public Library Service in Alliance, Ohio: 1885 to 1956 by Leah V. Agnoni.