Whirl of the Words

It’s not like any bookmobile you’ve ever seen. It isn’t local, you can’t check out anything, and all the books are handmade. It could also be the only place you’ll ever get to read “The Grilled Cheese Sandwich Book,” with covers that look like bread and pages that are colored yellow, or “What Teachers Don’t Know,” a self-explanatory zine made by 8-to 12-year-old students.

Projet Mobilivre, an alternative bookmobile that’s been roaming the country for more than two months, will be parked on Alvarado Street in Los Angeles and open to the public today and Thursday.

An Airstream trailer that’s been converted to a bookmobile, complete with shelves and seating, Projet Mobilivre is home to 300 handmade books, zines and comics.

“Art books get in to libraries and galleries, but they’re usually behind glass. Similarly, zines are not things that people outside zine culture have access to or know about. The reason we’re doing this project is to go beyond that,” said Leila Pourtavaf, 26. One of Projet Mobilivre’s founders, she has been traveling with the bookmobile since it left Philadelphia on June 20.

Headquartered in Philadelphia and Montreal, Projet Mobilivre (French for “Bookmobile Project”) was the brainchild of five Canadian college students. All of them are zine and book makers who share the belief that independently produced media are inaccessible to the masses and should be shared more widely with those who don’t usually get to see it.

Inspired by a 1998 art show featuring handmade books, Projet Mobilivre’s members wanted to take the idea to a larger audience and came up with the idea of the bookmobile to do that.

This year’s tour is the bookmobile’s second. Last year, it was supposed to stop in L.A., but the van that was hauling it kept breaking down, forcing Projet Mobilivre to turn back before heading over the Rockies.

During its four-month tour this year, the bookmobile is stopping at community centers, schools, festivals, bookstores, art centers, retirement homes and libraries throughout the U.S. and Canada. The collective had wanted to stop at a women’s reformatory in Ohio but was prevented from doing so because the warden objected to the political nature of some books and zines, which tackle subjects including racism, homophobia and gender equality.

Unlike a traditional bookmobile, the items on display at Projet Mobilivre can’t be checked out. The 300 pieces on display were selected from 600 submissions and represent a variety of people, art forms, topics, structures and writing styles. Many of them are one of a kind.

“Some people are like, ‘I really want to own this,’ but that isn’t the point of our project,” said Pourtavaf, who will provide contact information for an artist if she has it. “It’s to show people what’s available and encourage other people to do it.” To help achieve that goal, Projet Mobilivre hosts bookbinding and zine-making workshops at almost every stop.

“Books and zines are a really awesome form of expression that could be a lot more popular,” said Lisbeth Pelsue, 24, a Projet Mobilivre collective member who boarded the bookmobile in San Francisco and will travel with it to Albuquerque. “They’re such a narrative form that they allow people who don’t get heard a whole lot to say things that are really valuable and important to them.”

Pelsue, who used to produce a zine that chronicled her personal experiences as a political activist, is one of three volunteers who are staffing the bookmobile while it is in L.A. During its tour, Projet Mobilivre members ride along for anywhere from a week to two months, then swap places with another member. Though the volunteers sometimes have a place to stay while on tour, at least two of them sleep on site every night to ensure the bookmobile’s safety.

“Initially we wanted to do a bus ... but driving a bus is a huge hassle,” Pourtavaf said. “An Airstream was cheaper and safer ... and it’s also really good-looking.”

Projet Mobilivre will be outside 33- 1/3 Books, 1200 Alvarado St., Los Angeles, today and Thursday. Admission is free. Hours: 1 to 8 p.m. Information: (267) 879-7408.