Alistair's celebration not the final chapter
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"FORTY years on the road" could be a modern day fable based on Jack Kerouac's cult novel from the 1950s but on Friday it described a celebration of Alistair Sinclair's four decades of service as a mobile librarian throughout Caithness and Sutherland.
As if to prove his credentials, Alistair had a yellowing copy of the Caithness Courier from 1981 in which he featured in an article about the Highland Council's mobile library service and some of his experiences "on the road".
At the celebration event at Wick's library, in the East Caithness Community Facility, several staff members plied Alistair with teacakes emblazoned with "40 years" lest he forget his long period of service.
The mobile library assistant and driver, to give Alistair his proper title, said: "My wife has been very understanding over the years with all the nights I've had to stay away from home. One of the routes goes round by Tongue and Kinlochbervie through a very sparsely populated but enormous area geographically."
Alistair is based in Wick but has travelled thousands of miles over the years into some of the most isolated parts of the Highland region.
"It's a great service and it's always enjoyable to see the appreciation people have for it.
"Just yesterday, for instance, I drove out with a book for an 11-year-old girl in Canisbay but I wasn't totally sure if she had asked for a book on Queen, the band, or Her Majesty the Queen.
"Luckily, I got it right and she was quite literally jumping for joy when I gave her the book on the famous pop group Queen."
Another young girl, who had only seen Alistair's top-half when driving the vehicle, was "shocked" when she saw him stacking books one day and that he was "wearing trousers".
Alistair said the library van is quite a focus for people living in the more remote areas where communities are very scattered about.
"There's often a crowd waiting for me and it makes you feel like you're in demand and doing a good service for folks."
The work is not just about delivering books and many people in isolated parts of Caithness and Sutherland have come to enjoy a "wee blether" with Alistair as he does his rounds.
"I'm always getting invited in for cups of tea but you have to keep an eye on your watch too.
"There was one elderly lady living in the Freswick area who was housebound and I'd take her new books in and pick up the old ones. One day, her daughter told me her mum had dementia and she hadn't actually been reading the books at all.
"She told me that her mother really enjoyed the visits and thanked me very much for being there for her. I thought to myself there are probably many isolated people out there and I might be the only person the see all day."
Ruan Peat, the network librarian and Alistair's line-manager, had arranged the event in which cards, gifts and cakes were presented.
"Alistair brings more than a book. He brings himself and a friendly smile. Mobile librarians are important in reaching out to people who might see nobody else all week."
Also present at Friday's celebration was Alistair's wife Anna and two other mobile librarians, Elena Koponen-Baikie and Michelle Currie.
Alistair pretty much had the last word with a poem about his work as a mobile librarian.
The last lines recited by Alistair went: "If my day made people more happy than they were before, then I have achieved more than most and will happily lock the door.
"So if you see me in the big yellow van, then give me a wave for I'm your man."
