In a historical context, please see http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/006029244X/102...

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Note added at 27 mins (2005-08-23 09:56:29 GMT)
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Pach horse librarians traveled via mule or horse to rural areas from the Great Depression era of 1935 to 1943 when the Works Progress Administration withdrew funding. The collections included books, magazines, newspapers, and recipes and were carried in string bags or pillowcases as well as saddlebags.

From School Library Journal:
Imagine a cold, steep trip up a mountain path; it is icy and a light rain falls. A woman is riding an old horse and has a bag full of books to deliver. The families she stops to see are waiting for her, a one-room schoolhouse full of children greet her at the door. One woman walks nine miles to meet her and exchange her books and magazines. This is a day in the life of a pack-horse librarian. From 1935 to 1943, local Kentucky women were paid a meager salary as part of the WPA to do just this. (WPA = Works Progress Administration, created in 1935 935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt under his 1933 New Deal initiative)

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Note added at 31 mins (2005-08-23 10:00:52 GMT)
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Other interesting links:
http://newdeal.feri.org/library/i11.htm
http://www.jsfbooks.com/release03122004.asp



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Note added at 36 mins (2005-08-23 10:05:24 GMT) Post-grading
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The first "bookmobile" service, as one site calls it (though this is inaccurate).
This is Kurt's favourite book review (link reprinted here with permission, I hope :- )
http://www.inetogether.net/02-01/book-05.php
And, for those really interested in the subject, the Amazon copy is searchable.