The MOBILIVRE-BOOKMOBILE project is a community arts initiative founded by the Bookmobile collective, a diverse group of emerging North American artists and community activists. Their mandate is to fuse artistic production with political activism and community organizing

Community organizing

Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. A core goal of community organizing is to generate durable power for an organization representing the community, allowing it to influence...

. The collective consists of a fluctuating group of dedicated volunteers, coordinators, jury organizers, and tour guides. Although the project is based primarily in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, QC, and Philadelphia, PA, collective members reside in various cities throughout North America.

The MOBILIVRE-BOOKMOBILE project explores the long-held tradition of bookmobile

Bookmobile

A bookmobile or mobile library is a large vehicle designed for use as a library. It is designed to hold books on shelves so that when the vehicle is parked the books can be accessed by readers. It usually has enough space for people to sit and read books inside. Mobile libraries are often used to...

s as traveling libraries in order to promote the distribution of information. Since 2000, the project has been selectively collecting and organizing artist's books (that range from handmade and one-of-a-kind pieces, to zine

Zine

A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....

s, photocopied works, and other independent publications) on an annual basis. Members of the collective present these works to the public in a series of traveling exhibitions that are held throughout the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 with the help of a vintage Airstream

Airstream

Airstream is a brand of luxury recreational vehicle manufactured in Jackson Center, Ohio, USA. It is currently a division of Thor Industries. The company, which now employs fewer than 400, is the oldest in the industry. Airstream trailers are easily recognized for their distinctive rounded...

 trailer. The artist collective

Artist collective

An artist collective is an initiative that is the result of a group of artists working together, usually under their own management, towards shared aims...

 also organizes workshops and participates in educational activities on a community level during these tours.

Each touring collection consists of about 300 items. In 2005, the collective donated its 2000-2005 collections to Artexte Information Centre

Artexte Information Centre

The Artexte Information Centre is an independent, federally chartered not-for-profit arts organization in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its principal mandate is to focus on research, interpretation and dissemination initiatives in order to broaden the influence and appreciation of contemporary visual...

. This not-for-profit arts organization maintains the collections and provides on-site access to them. Artexte also provides further access to these collections with an electronic guide to individual works, organized by touring year: Projet MOBILIVRE-BOOKMOBILE Project Guide