Lyle Talbot, Garfield and Kane county’s well-beloved bookmobile driver, is retiring after 11 years in the position.
Lyle just loves the Bookmobile. He loves the people; and he loves to read. It’s almost like he couldn’t get away from the Bookmobile even if he tried.
“I was a truck driver in my former life,” said Lyle. He spent most of his career hauling truck lines and coal. After 35 years, he was ready to get his last job for two years and retire. That was how long he planned to drive the Multicounty Bookmobile.
But, like the guys in the adventure books he’s always reading, he couldn’t escape. “It’s kind of weird,” he said. “I thought I could be retired when I turned 65. In between, I tried to be retired, but I wasn’t any good at it.”
Fortunately for all his regulars, he loved driving the Bookmobile so much he ended up doing it for nine more years.
Lyle hardly took any vacation time. He felt so lucky seeing the people and places he got to see just driving the Bookmobile. When I talked to him on the phone, he was on his way to Boulder. “I got to see clear out to Lake Powell and clear out here to Boulder,” he said. Twice a month, he stops at Panguitch, Bryce Valley, Escalante and Boulder elementary schools; the Cannonville, Henrieville and Hatch LDS churches; Bryce Canyon residential area; and the Escalante City Office just in Garfield County. In total, he drives 1300 miles per month.
But now that Lyle is retiring, he will be greatly missed.
Elizabeth Julian, head teacher at Boulder Elementary School, is a huge fan of the Bookmobile and Lyle. She’s collaborated with Lyle over the years to provide book selections that interest Boulder’s students and align with the units. “Lyle has purchased many books for us to use in our lessons and reading initiatives, and his dedication has been tremendous,” she said. “We will miss his bimonthly visits.”
Karen Munson, who is one of The Byway’s writers but also an author from Escalante, loved “how personable he was.” She said, “He always remembered people’s names and which types of books they were interested in.” He was also supportive of local authors and liked to purchase their books for the Bookmobile.
Katie Beesley, a resident of Cannonville, is also a Multicounty Bookmobile regular. She agreed with Karen: “I think he is super personable.” Lyle is willing to go out of his way to do most anything for his patrons. For Katie, he helped her set up her library app, and has sometimes driven to her house to exchange books.
Lyle’s favorite part was always the people. He said driving the Bookmobile was an “amazing opportunity to get to know people and know how good they are” … and get to know their love for books.
In every town he goes to Lyle drives around honking his horn to let everyone know he’s there before settling in and warming up the place, usually in the LDS Church parking lot.
Bookmobiles get more visits than most public libraries do. In 2022 the Multicounty Bookmobile had 2700 active cardholders in Garfield County. It gets so many regular visits from people like Elizabeth, Karen and Katie that per capita, it’s like everyone in the entire county is using the bookmobile three times a year.
Lyle’s official last day was on Thursday June 27, but he will be around for a little longer training his replacement. Once he retires, he will have a little vacation time to explore the fun recreational places in Southern Utah, as well as to visit his four kids and their families all over Utah.
Of course, he will always be the same old adventurous, happy, personable Lyle. “And I’ll keep reading,” he said.
– by Abbie Call
Feature image caption: Lyle Talbot, sitting in the Bookmobile.
Abbie Call – Cannonville/Kirksville, Missouri
Abbie Call is a journalist and editor at The Byway. She graduated in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in editing and publishing from Brigham Young University. Her favorite topics to write about include anything local, Utah’s megadrought, and mental health and meaning in life. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hanging out with family, quilting and hiking.
Find Abbie on Threads @abbieb.call or contact her at [email protected].