<p>An optical information reading apparatus such as a bar code reader (1) includes a mirror drive unit (2) rotatable to oscillate a movable scanning mirror (6) simultaneously about a first axis and a second axis perpendicular to the first axis so that a laser beam (301) irradiated from a laser unit (3) is directed by the movable scanning mirror (6) vertically and horizontally to scan parallel arranged plural rows bar codes (9) with a raster scanning pattern. Since the raster scanning pattern can be formed by the combination of a single scanning mirror(86) and a single mirror drive unit (2), the optical information reading apparatus is simple in construction and compact in size. In addition, the number of vertical scanning lines is not limited as opposed to a limited number of vertical scanning lines formed by a polygon mirror incorporated in the conventional apparatus. <IMAGE></p>
