The Pere Quart mobile library, which serves 18 villages in the Catalan Pyrenees, has been out of service since January after its driver, Aleix Gistau, retired after more than 40 years, according to Culture Minister Sònia Hernández.
The Department of Culture has launched two unsuccessful recruitment drives for a new driver. A third hiring process is now under way, with a resolution expected next week. In the meantime, a temporary remote library loan service has been set up through local councils.
In a parliamentary response dated 12 May, Hernández said the first two selected candidates declined the post before starting. She also said the department is studying whether an economic supplement could be added in future. The bibliobús runs Monday to Friday across Pallars Jussà, Pallars Sobirà, Alta Ribagorça and Alt Urgell, and the role requires overnight stays away from home, which makes the vacancy harder to fill.
The current recruitment drive began on 5 May. Iolanda Ferran, director of territorial culture services in the Pyrenees, said this call, like the previous two, has attracted candidates. Interviews are continuing, and a decision is expected from next week. For readers following public service updates across Catalonia, see our news coverage.
The service began 44 years ago, in 1982, first covering Pallars Jussà and Alta Ribagorça. It later expanded to Pallars Sobirà in 1995 and to three villages in Alt Urgell in 2021. The Pere Quart bibliobús is named after the pseudonym of poet Joan Oliver (1888 to 1986), who drove a mobile library for the Generalitat's Front Libraries Service during the Civil War.
The department also operates another mobile library in Lleida, which serves towns in Segrià and Les Garrigues. The Pere Quart bibliobús serves more than 9,300 people and had nearly 2,500 registered users in its latest published balance from 2024. The department says it hopes to resolve the driver shortage soon and restore the service to the Pyrenean communities.