The little kids had fun coloring and playing with the bus toys at Townwood today, and the bigger kids loved the Pokémon games. Lots of Spanish and English books went home with families too! We will return on October 16 with Community Bikes 😊🚲

Many thanks to Hello Comics for keeping us stocked with comics for kids, teens, and adults! We have a lot of comic fans at our stops, and are grateful for the boxes of two-packs the store donated to the bus ✨🙌

These two best friends came back after choosing books at Timberland to sit in the driver’s seat & work on their scratch art. When they left, one of them said “Bye book fairy!” 💕 I do wear a name tag that says “Sharon,” but I may have to make a second 😊

Lots of comments like ”I haven’t been on a bus in 50 years” 😊yesterday at Grandparents Day. Tye River Elementary students took home over 200 books - everything from Muhammad Ali to unicorn books 🦄

Thanks to @hannahdavisreid.bsky.social and @vpm.org for this fantastic story! www.vpm.org/news/2025-09...

Setting up a little scene for the kids to enjoy when I visit Tye River Elementary School tomorrow 🐘🐽🐦🫧📚

When the elementary school bus arrived at Riverside Avenue today, one girl ran to the bus and up the stairs shouting “I’M HERE!” 🥹 Kids enjoyed choosing new pencil pouches and pencils from the free store along with books.

First visit of the new school year to the Newcomer Learning Community! These 6th-12th grade students are newly arrived in the U.S. and still learning English.

MIMA Music, balloon animals, and books at Greenstone on 5th yesterday! Over 100 books and 80 pairs of socks went home with pre-k through middle schoolers.

First visit to Rockfish River Elementary for the school year, and these enthusiastic readers took home 367 books! ✨I love it when kids sit outside the bus to start reading 😊

Balloon animals by retired teacher Belinda were a big hit at Townwood Mobile Home Park with Sin Barreras! Kids also enjoyed picking out new pencils and sharpeners for the school year, along with books. We visit Townwood the third Thursday of the month at 5pm.

I’m not sure what’s going on here, but it’s probably fine 🤨

Pictures from this morning’s visits to two local childcare centers, A Mother’s Touch & Rita’s Bright Beginnings - preschoolers are always SO excited to get on the bus 😊

At Greenstone today, I had child & adult helpers - I’ve known some of these kids since 2019! At this stop in particular, kids love notebooks, pencil sharpeners, & coloring supplies. Many kids here are bilingual - speaking Pashto, Dari, Arabic, French, etc. at home, along with English.

Campers & staff at Camp Holiday Trails visited the bus tonight to choose books & a prize. I love watching kids step on the bus for the first time 😊 Tiny plush dinos were the #1 prize, & graphic novels, chapter books, and adult/YA were the most-chosen categories.

We are very grateful to the Party Parade Fund of CACF for supporting our stops with English Language learners with a $5,000 grant! Our Bilingual Book Buddies program with Greer Elementary & Newcomer Learning will continue this fall.

Stuffed bears and fidget toys were the most popular prizes today at Greenstone on 5th, along with coloring books, picture books, and graphic novels. Many kids at this stop love art supplies, so we made sure to bring extra!

Today I brought the bus to visit siblings whose brother is being treated at UVA. Yellow Door Foundation hosts families whose children are undergoing cancer or transplant treatment. For kids in the hospital, we made to-go bags with books from the bus, toys, and fun hygiene items.

“YES” was the word of the day at one of my stops with PHAR/Charlottesville Public Housing Association of Residents: “Yes, you can bring your kitten on the bus (also can I hold him)” 🐱🥹 “Yes, you can come on the bus barefoot,” “Yes, you can get a prize for your baby brother.” 😊

We’re delighted to announce a $7,000 grant from the Bama Works Fund of Dave Matthews Band! This grant will fund high-quality new books, school and art supplies, and personal care and hygiene items at all of our stops. It will also help fund special literacy projects.

We got rained out on Thursday, but I returned to Townwood on Friday. I got flagged down a few times by families who were just getting home, so I got to pull over just like a city bus for kids to hop on & choose books. Thanks to Sin Barreras for arranging my stops here! ✨🚌✨

Why do we have things like nail polish on our hygiene shelf? Our (bulk purchased) hygiene supplies are a mix of items that people need, like toothpaste, plus items that make people feel good. An example: a recent guest at a shelter stop was pleased to choose polish in a particular color for church.

After I posted about losing a donor who withdrew support because we carry LGBTQ+ books, Bluesky supporters donated $850 to The Free Book Bus ✨ I’m so grateful to all of you & to the two generous donors who gave $500 each shortly before I posted. Thank you for affirming the power of community!

Today was my first time back at Kindlewood since 2023! It was great to see familiar and new faces. One of the kids asked about the book slide that we used during the pandemic ✨🚌✨

Our “Welcome to The Free Book Bus” signs greet our guests and reflect our commitment to an inclusive space for all readers. We lost a significant monthly donor recently after I confirmed that we carry LGBTQ+ books. We’ll keep showing up with an open door and books for every child & family.

Many thanks to Bluebird Books for donating multiple boxes of books to the bus! Just a few of the titles are pictured here. We are so grateful for this amazing selection of picture books for our guests ✨🚌✨

The summer prize table had its first outing today at Tye River Elementary School’s summer program. I love the Pokémon inspired art! 228 books went home with kids and teachers - everything from Spanish language cooks books to board books.

Adorable guests from this morning’s visit to Rita's Bright Beginnings. One sweet little boy (in green) kept giving his teachers and friends different books that he picked out 🥰

I stopped in at Greenstone for a bit, and enjoyed watching the kids discover all the different instruments with Mima Music after they chose books. The UNO cards that I just got in all went out! 😊

Today was my last stop for the year at the Newcomer Learning Community, for Albemarle County Public Schools 6th-12th graders who are still learning English. Students picked out books for the summer, as well as new hygiene products and socks. They also gave me flower bouquets and a sweet card 🥹

Met the Greenbrier bus at Hearthwood with Community Bikes! Kids and parents picked out books, and then got bikes fixed, new bikes and helmets, and help with riding skills. Thanks to Katie and Kristen from Greenbrier for helping this stop run smoothly. 😊

Perfect weather today for the Festival of Cultures. Lots of English language learners on the bus today, plus Arabic, French, Japanese, Turkish, Pashto, Portuguese, and Spanish speakers. I need to restock English grammar books - lots of requests for those today 😊

The bus will be at the Festival of Cultures tomorrow at McIntire Park from noon-3pm. Come visit and take home a book!

I spent the morning visiting two local childcare centers - preschool children are always SO excited to see the bus pull up! More info in alt text.

This afternoon at Timberland: Young boy, getting on the bus: “Do you have bonnets?” (Yes) “Can I put it on now?” (Of course) “Can I sit in the driver’s seat?” (Yes, but don’t honk the horn) 😊 I’ve been visiting Timberland since June of 2021, and love that many adults get onboard along with kids.

A few photos from this morning’s visit to Tam’s Toddler Town Childcare in Crozet. The trio in the second photo were delighted by all the buttons they found near the driver’s seat 🥰

We saw lots of familiar faces from neighborhood stops today at the block party hosted by Region Ten & the Trauma-Informed Community Network. Many of the smallest readers enjoyed being on a bus for the first time!

Three stops today with PHAR, the first with Community Bikes 🚲The third picture was taken at The Dell about 20 minutes ago, unrelated to the bus but thought I would share because I’ve never been that close to a heron before ✨

We will be joining Region Ten and the Trauma-Informed Community Network for a block party this Thursday from 3-6pm at Ix Art Park. The bus will be open to the public - please come visit!

Elementary through 8th grade students visited the book bus yesterday at Greenstone after school. The new Elephant & Piggie activity books from First Book were a big hit 🐘🐽🎨

Highlight of the day so far was introducing the ESL student in red to the joys of finding Goldbug on every page in Richard Scarry’s “Cars and Trucks and Things That Go,” a beloved classic in our house. Adult students at TJACE’s Ix Park classes visited to choose books & personal care items.

Adult ESL students from all over the world (including France, Mongolia, Afghanistan, and Columbia) visited the bus tonight! Teachers and students from TJACE at PVCC picked out a wide range of books to support at-home reading and English learning. ✨🚌✨

Greer Elementary Bright Stars preschoolers read with high schoolers from the Newcomer Learning Community for our last book buddy event of the year. One of the high school students read out loud in English for the first time today!

After an exciting drive over Afton Mountain in high winds 😳, I returned to Liberty Point Behavioral Healthcare. The staff member in the green shirt was excited to find his old favorite, Go Dog Go, for his new granddaughter 🥹

Pictures from the last of three stops today with Charlottesville Public Housing Association of Residents - PHAR. Adults often hop on the bus to choose books along with kids. The restocked Elephant & Piggie books made a lot of readers happy!

We often team up with Cville Community Bikes at our stops - today was Greenstone, which is a great stop because so many families get on the bus to choose books with kids. Lots of new helmets and bike repair too!

Finished our year of monthly visits to Buford Middle today! Over 7 visits, gave out 768 books to students & staff. Most popular were YA, sports, nonfiction, comics, and of course, the tiny red piano (this student sat and played for 15 min 😊)

We got rained out about 30 minutes in, but still had a great crowd for books, bikes & pastries with Sin Barreras, Community Bikes, & Baker No Bakery at Townwood. First visit since November!

Tomorrow at Townwood, we’ve got a community event from 5-6 with free books, pastries, and bikes!

After hearing from bus guests that they prefer metal Afro picks over plastic, we added them to our personal care shelf. At Elk Hill Staunton yesterday, these students put them to immediate use! (Photo shared with permission).