A picture of a gas station gauge showing $137.76 for 23.755 gallons of diesel
The price of filling up the bus 😳 Thanks to everyone who has donated in the last year for helping us keep the bus on the road!
Hands holding two books: The Great Gatsby and a graphic comic “Spider-Man and Mary Jane.”
I loved this teen’s book selections at Albemarle County’s Trailhead Learning Center today, representing both the modern and the classic 😊
I’ve been several times and didn’t see it, so someone must have!
I missed it! 😩
A man is in the process of putting a tarp on about 20 boxes of assorted books in the back of a pickup truck
That’s a wrap for this year’s Jefferson-Madison Regional Library Friends sale, taking our literal truckload of books home to put on the bus and shelves back at book bus HQ 😊 half price day at the sale starts this Saturday!
Actual footage of me yesterday at the book sale - my reel from 2024 still applies 😊 JMRL Friends of the Library sale is on all week at Albemarle Square in Charlottesville, 10-7!
I am so glad! I had completely forgotten I’d also done the same until the three of them started 😊
This guest found the copy of Dogman he wanted and joyfully shouted “This is the best day ever!”
Community Bikes staff fixing bikes for kids
Teacher Lynn Herman shares books with some of her students on the Book Bus
It was a triple-header today at Greenstone with Community Bikes, Jackson-Via teacher Mrs. Herman, and representatives from IRC Charlottesville! Kids enjoyed picking out books, pencils, bookmarks, getting their bikes fixed, and of course, yelling into the bus fan 😊 more pics in comments
Two young students smile after picking out books and crayons on the book bus.
A small group of elementary students choose books on the book bus.
A boy sits on the floor to read his new book on the book bus.
Pre-K through 5th graders at Tye River Elementary School were excited to pick out 145 books this morning to take home! Sharks, unicorns, coloring books, and beginning reader books were popular today.
Parents and students on the book bus look through the book selection
Even big kids like playing the tiny piano! Some of the high school students are pictured on the bus and one of them is sitting on the floor playing the tiny red piano.
Parents joined students on the bus today at ACPS Newcomer Learning Center. Spanish, Chinese, and Farsi are a few of the languages kids speak at home, and parents enjoyed picking out books to further their English studies.
A kid wheels away their new bike from the community bikes tent
A young reader sits on the floor of the Book Bus with her new books
An elementary school bus guest tries out the manual pencil sharpener
Books, bikes, and sharpening pencils were the activities today at our first spring stop at Townwood with Sin Barreras and Community Bikes ✨🚌✨
Two grad students and one undergrad are pictured on the book bus during a meeting. A box of donated books is near their feet.
Bianca, Matt, and Annaliese (l-r), students from the Batten School’s Formative Change Group, are doing a pro bono consulting evaluation of some of our outreach & volunteer needs. We are very grateful for their knowledge, enthusiasm, and support this semester!
A comic style sticker reads “Donated with love by Hello Comics.” The other pictures, set in a collage style, are a colorful mix of teen manga like Bunny Drop, and graphic novels for younger kids such as Blue, Berry, & Pancakes.
Many, many thanks to Hello Comics for their incredibly generous donation of multiple boxes of teen manga and kids’ graphic novels! These are the most popular items on the bus, and we were running low. Now our shelves are stocked! ✨🚌✨
Excited kids after getting off the bus with their book choices
A group of students on the bus holds up their book choices
A boy smiles while holding up his Catan card game
The first student on the bus today at Rockfish River Elementary School asked me, “Is it OK if I give you a hug?” 💕 Of course I said yes 😊 403 books went home with preschool through 5th grade students today, everything from board books to World War II history.
Thanks! We are offering $20/hour for the right person 😊
Sharon, the bus driver, on the bus three kids who are picking out books
Several elementary schoolers pick out books on the Book Bus
Elementary schoolers choose coloring books and other reading books on the Book Bus
Since the the giant piles of snow have melted, I returned to Greenstone to meet the elementary buses. 71 books and 36 toothbrushes/soap bars/deodorant went home with kids and parents. Thanks to Stephanie for including me in a picture, and for managing the flow of kids 😊
A photo of the Book Bus colorful shelves featuring books with Black main characters or books about Black history.
The three-light traffic signal was invented by a Black man named Garrett Morgan. Garrett Morgan had only an elementary school education and was the son of a formerly enslaved man. Nevertheless, Morgan surmounted these difficulties and is responsible for many important inventions. Most notably, Morgan invented the three-light traffic signal in 1923. While driving one day, Morgan witnessed a serious car crash at an intersection. This sparked his idea to add a third light to the traffic signal which would warn drivers of an impending red light. His patent was granted in 1924, and after early installments of the three-light traffic signal were successful, they spread throughout the country and became the three-light signal many of us encounter daily.
Maya Angelou was the irst Black female cable car conductor in San Francisco. Maya Angelou is best known as a Pulitzer Prize winning author, but before she began writing, she worked a string of odd jobs in her youth. When Angelou first went to apply for a job as a cable car conductor, they refused to give her an application. Undeterred, Angelou sat outside of the office every day for two weeks until they finally allowed her to apply for the position. Much to her distress, when Angelou read over the application paperwork, she realized she was neither old enough for the job, nor did she have the desired experience and recommendations she was required to list. In 1 Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou describes how she combined fact and fiction in order to complete the application, and "on a blissful day" she was hired as the first Black female cable car conductor in San Francisco.
In honor of Black History Month, here are two facts I didn’t know, and some of the books we are featuring in February. ✨🚌✨
Sorry! I’ll see if I can edit to make that more clear.
Help wanted! We need another person to help drive the bus and represent The Free Book Bus at events. You do not need a CDL. $20/hour. Background check required. freebookbus@gmail.com Send us an email with your resume and cover letter! WWW.FREEBOOKBUS.COM
If you’ve ever looked at our book bus event photos and thought “That looks fun,” we are hiring for a part-time second driver who enjoys working with kids. I’m at the limit of the number of events I can do on my own. Flexible, part-time, $20/hr. No CDL needed. Details below 😊
Kids and their teacher on the book bus - lots of the kids are in fun PJs because it was pajama day
Kids and their teacher on the book bus - lots of the kids are in fun PJs because it was pajama day
Kids on the book bus with their book choices - lots of the kids are in fun PJs because it was pajama day
Kids and their teacher on the book bus - lots of the kids are in fun PJs because it was pajama day
It was pajama day yesterday at Tye River Elementary School, so there were lots of fun slippers and pj prints on the bus. Kids and teachers picked out 228 books to take home, everything from books on whale anatomy to glow in the dark Pokémon books ✨🚌✨
An elementary school girl sits in the bus driver’s seat. Her hair is pictured from the back. She asked me “do you notice anything special about my hair?” and when I looked, she had her hair braided in a big heart pattern, tied back with a pink bow and accentuated with pink and purple beads.
A young elementary school girl tries out the bus driver’s seat. She is watching the stop sign (which says READ) flashing after pressing the button. Her hair is braided with red and white beads for Valentines Day.
An elementary school girl tries out the bus driver’s seat. She is holding the picture book “The Smart Cookie” and watching the stop sign (which says READ) flashing after pressing the button.
These three bus guests after choosing books yesterday: “Can I sit in the seat?” Me: “Yes! Just remember the rule, don’t honk the horn” 😊 They had a great time pretending to be the bus driver and turning on the READ sign. Also, the amazing Valentine’s hair! ✨💕
A group of middle schoolers holding books stands with their teachers in front of the Book Bus on a sunny day
Group photo from today’s visit to the C-Base class at Lakeside Middle School. Book choices ranged from Rick Riordan chapter books to books about sharks, and lots of kids took home chapstick ✨🚌✨
Two elementary girls stand on the bus steps holding up their shrinky dink kits, books, and pencils
I took this picture while stopped to illustrate how narrow some of the streets still are because of the icy snow
Kids were excited to see Shrinky Dinks on the bus, although I wish I had instructions for them in Pashto and Dari 🚌 Three stops today with Charlottesville Public Housing Association of Residents, while dodging the snow-narrowed lanes - thanks to my copilot for clearing the bus roof!
Yowza! Yeah I’m not used to that kind of heavy chopping - luckily we have a tractor for our road
I can just imagine how much work that was, because I just hacked away at the ice on the bus roof 🥶
The Free Book Bus is pictured in snow with an extension ladder up against the side, snow on the bus roof, and a snow clearing tool in the foreground
We managed to chop through the first layer of ice on the bus roof and get the solar panel uncovered, the rest will have to wait until it melts a bit more, a few weeks from now 😬
The “before” picture: disorganized boxes full of art supplies, with hygiene items and foreign language books in the background
Sharon’s mom, Ellen, sitting on a stool sorting through used book donations
The “after” picture: a very colorful, pleasing shelf display of art products, such as glitter markers, Shrinky Dink kits, cute food coloring books, Pokémon cards, etc.
My mom, Ellen, a retired librarian and current archivist, helped me unpack books & supplies. 🙌 A year ago, I took Shrinky Dink kits to a public housing stop. The kids STILL ask for them 😊 Thanks to a grant from The Anne & Gene Worrell Foundation, we were able to purchase in bulk, along with books
Elementary kids show their book choices on the book bus
Sharon , the bus driver, stands with three kids who are holding their new books
Five elementary kids on the book bus
A child in a red jacket sits on a green stool on the book bus looking at a new Spiderman chapter book
198 books went out to enthusiastic pre-k-elementary readers & teachers at Tye River Elementary School this morning! Valentine books, chapter, scary, picture, & board books were all popular. Kids also loved getting to choose new mechanical pencils - we stock fresh school supplies in January ✨🚌✨
