A Library on a Bus

In 2018, I was invited to visit a school in Kennington, Dartford, as an author.

Recently, out of the blue, I received a message from a young student who had met me on that day.

“OH, MY GOD!!!! This is my sister and I (I'm the one in pink) !! I remember you; you were great, and I'm trying to be an author myself. You inspired me so much!” 

A visit to Kennington

What a lovely message to receive.

It reminded me that I had never written a blog report about my author visits during World Book Week in 2019 and the visit to the Library Bus.

The visit to Kennington was a great success, and following this, I was invited to attend another school in Dartford, which had a library on a bus.

I had been invited to visit in 2019 for World Book Day. This would be the third author visit that week, and I was looking forward to visiting and seeing the bus, too.

A Busy Book Week

The week had started on Monday with a school in Chichester, meeting Years one and two.

On Wednesday, a visit to a school in Burstow, meeting all year groups in an assembly, as well as meeting the classes in Key Stage One and reading a book.

Then on Friday, I was off to SHAW Primary Academy. It certainly had been a busy week.

Each of the three visits was organised and dealt with differently by the schools. There was a chance to meet the children in an assembly setting and some in individual classes.

SHAW school

As I arrived at the school, many children were dressed for ‘World Book Day’ in their fancy costumes. Even the head teacher was dressed as a Pirate Captain, while her daughter, a Special Needs Teacher, was her parrot.

The teacher in charge of the event took some of my author worksheets for follow-up work. Each year group had a time to come along to visit me in the hall and to find out more.

The reception class children had been inspired to create their own simple bus with construction equipment. They came back just before lunch to show me their models.

In the afternoon, the teacher organising the event was pleased to show me their school library bus.

The Library Bus.

The dark blue bus was parked near the school, and each class had a scheduled time to visit. It was popular with children of all ages.

A pathway led to the bus, and there was seating both upstairs and downstairs for children to sit and read, as well as to select a book they might enjoy.

Downstairs, some of the original bus seating remained, with cosy cushions too.

Upstairs, there was a bright carpeted area with beanbag cushions. There was also a table and chairs from where a teacher might work with a group of children.

There were many bookshelves around for children to select and read a book, and then sit and read.

Outside at the side of the bus was a wooden throne. The carved message read, ’Once Upon a Time’. This offered a teacher a place to sit and read outside to the class or a group of children.

The upstairs and downstairs aspect of the bus provides a lot of interest as well as a cosy, compact feel where children can sit quietly and read.

There are quite a few schools that have enlisted the use of a bus to provide a library space. With the need for phonics groups to find small areas to work in, a bus can certainly be a lot of fun. The cosy bus, with reading areas, is a great place to read. As well as a perfect place for a bus story, too?

Do you know of a library bus?

Is it a double-decker bus?