Newton is getting a bookmobile again.

The city has purchased a new mobile library and is preparing to relaunch a program that dates back to the 1920s, when the Newton Free Library strapped a lending collection onto a Model-T and rolled it through city streets. That original program ran about 60 years before budget cuts killed it in the early 1980s.

"Having a mobile library has always been discussed, and I think it was time," Chief Community Services Officer John Rice told the Newton Beacon.

Mayor Marc Laredo, who took office in January, listed the bookmobile as part of the "building community" pillar of his agenda for the city. Rice said the goal is to get the library out into neighborhoods where residents' busy schedules keep them from visiting the main branch. The library draws more than 600,000 visitors a year, but city officials want to reach people who can't make the trip.

The new vehicle won't be a Model-T. It will be outfitted with modern equipment that meets state vehicle safety requirements, according to the Newton Beacon.

Rice said the bookmobile could appear at village days, school registration events, and the growing roster of city-run community gatherings. No launch date has been set. The city is waiting to hire a new permanent library director, who would help craft a formal schedule and program. A "groundbreaking" ceremony is planned once the vehicle is road-ready.

Historical photographs of the original bookmobile are preserved in the Digital Commonwealth archive, in a collection spanning 1920 to 1981. The city has not disclosed what it paid for the new vehicle.