Free Bookmobile founder receives Jefferson Award

Free Bookmobile of Sonoma County director, Glen Weaver, is being recognized with a Jefferson Award for his work in promoting literacy through the Free Bookmobile of Sonoma County.

The Free Bookmobile visits numerous sites in Sonoma Valley monthly.

Weaver, a Sebastopol resident, will be honored in a medal ceremony in mid-January 2015 in San Francisco. One local winner will be selected by each Jefferson Awards media partner and local judging panel to represent their community in the Jefferson Awards National Ceremonies in Washington, D.C., in June 2015.

Weaver was nominated by long-time Geyserville supporters, Wes Brubacher and Bobbi Chamberlain. “It is an incredible honor and surprise to receive the Jefferson Award,” said Weaver. “I love promoting reading in our community, and just sharing in the happiness and excitement of the people we serve is my daily reward. In the spirit of the values behind the Jefferson Award, I’m hoping we can inspire others to think about what they have to offer, what they can give back to their communities.”

The Jefferson Awards is considered to be the “Nobel Prize for public and community service,” with the goal to inspire others to become involved in their community and engage in public service. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, U.S. Senator Robert Taft, Jr., and Sam Beard founded the American Institute for Public Service in 1972, which started the Jefferson Awards as part of the institute’s mission to build a culture of service. On a local level, Jefferson Awards recipients are ordinary people who do extraordinary things without expectation of recognition or reward.

Weaver started the Free Bookmobile of Sonoma County in 2009 as part of a weekend family service. It has since blossomed into an important community resource bringing joy to more than a thousand children and adults each month. On a mission of outreach, the Free Bookmobile especially seeks to serve children, families, and seniors living in rural and low-income areas by giving away high-quality books. The Free Bookmobile recently joined the Sonoma County Public Library Foundation (SCPLF), an independent nonprofit organization, as a featured program.

“There is no better example of how to put a dream into action then this wonderful Free Bookmobile of Sonoma County effort,” said foundation president, Norma Doyle. “By erasing the difficulty of access in our large geographic county, Glen Weaver has taken the beauty of the written word to the very doorsteps of those with little access to books, and assured literacy can blossom in the very corners of our isolated region, bringing smiles, pleasure and a literate future to many people. SCPLF is proud to be newly affiliated with Glen Weaver and this excellent venture.”