At lunch, I visited the Digital Bookmobile, which was parked in front of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in downtown San Jose.

According to its site, the bookmobile is "a community outreach vehicle for public libraries to promote downloadable eBooks, audiobooks, music, and video". It was equipped with laptops, computers, and various mobile devices to give the public a taste of the digital experience. There were also a few helpful guides on hand to answer technical questions.

I decided to check it out because while I regularly use the library to borrow hard and soft cover books, I haven't taken advantage of their digital collection. I thought a visit to the bookmobile might inspire me to start (and it did).

If you're a member of the San Jose Library, you should definitely wander through the library's virtual aisles. If you are a member of the Santa Clara County Library, they have a digital library, too. I don't know how their collections compare, but both are worth exploring.

In the coming days and weeks, the bookmobile will be visiting northern California, Oregon, and Washington. Take a look at the schedule and keep an eye out for a sky blue big rig with laptops in your neck of the woods.

For locals, if you missed it today, don't worry, the bookmobile will be in the area for another two days. Tomorrow, it's at the Saratoga Library, and on Saturday, it's at the Morgan Hill Library (just down the street from me).