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The Free Book Bus

@thefreebookbus.bsky.social

220 followers 170 following 150 posts

The Free Book Bus gives books to help families build home libraries in central Virginia. Our first mission serves those with barriers to access, our second is reading encouragement! https://linktr.ee/freebookbus

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The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · 1d

Books, bikes, and socks were the items of the day today at our monthly stops: Riverside, Westhaven, and 6th St communities with PHAR!

Community Bikes repaired bikes at 6th St., and would love more bike donations if your kids have outgrown theirs.

Kids on the bus read and look at their book choices

An elementary girl chooses a pair of socks

Charlottesville Community Bikes volunteers and staff repair a bike near a playground while a child waits

The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · 8d

116 books and an assortment of 79 socks, hairbrushes and pencil cases went home with kids and families today at Greenstone. Kids still love to vacuum (second photo), and Piggie did get vacuumed up briefly 😊

Kids pose and smile while in line to get on the book bus

A young boy holds a hand vacuum near a stuffed pig

An elementary student smiles on the book bus as she selects a pencil

Kids on the book bus pick out pencils and crayons

The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · 11d

A few pictures from Tuesday’s visit to Tam’s Toddler Town Childcare - I always forget how tiny and adorable preschoolers are 🥹 These little readers enjoyed browsing the shelves, choosing books, and trying out the driver’s seat ✨

A happy little girl wearing a yellow shirt and yellow beads in her hair smiles while trying out the Book Bus driver seat

A tiny child sits in the driver seat while looking at an ABC board book

Two toddlers check out the Book Bus driver seat and controls

A happy preschooler wearing a pink headband and an adorable little denim jean jacket on the Book Bus

The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · 14d

At Hearthwood, kids hop right off their elementary bus and onto the book bus. Thank you Greenbrier Elementary teachers & librarian for helping at this stop! Picture and chapter books, along with coloring books & manga were most popular today. 😊

A young girl smiles and holds up a coloring book and Mo Willems book

Two happy, excited elementary schoolers confer on the Book Bus before choosing books

A young elementary school boy wearing a red backpack chooses a chapter book

An elementary school girl wearing a pink backpack sits on a stool and smiles while holding her coloring book, crayons, and pen

The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · 20d

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 😊🚲

Two women on the Book Bus look at books while two young boys sit and color in coloring books

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The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · 22d

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 ✨🙌

Two boxes of assorted comics labeled as kid friendly and also assorted. The two Comics pictured on top are Uncle Scrooge Adventures and a Marvel adventures comic.

The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · 28d

Thank you! It is a careful balance, and often, the longer I have been going to a stop, the less I feel OK about taking pictures. I never want people to feel like getting on the bus is conditional on me taking a picture. When I do have permission, it’s very helpful for grant writing.

The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · 28d

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 😊

Two girls sit in the driver’s seat of The Free Book Bus, drawing on two magic scratch art pads they chose from the book bus.

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The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · 28d

Thank you so much 😊

The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · 29d

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 🦄

A woman poses with two young children on the Book Bus. They are both holding books and smiling

A woman and her grandson pose on the Book Bus. They are both smiling. The woman is holding a Dr. Seuss book with a purple cover titled “Horton hears a Boo!”

A woman and her grandson smile on the Book Bus. The boy is holding a Pete the Cat book with a blue cover.

A man and his grandson stand outside the Book Bus smiling

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The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · Sep 8

Thanks so much for sharing! 😊

The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · Sep 8

Thanks to @hannahdavisreid.bsky.social and @vpm.org for this fantastic story!

www.vpm.org/news/2025-09...

Charlottesville's Free Book Bus is a ‘come-as-you-are’ type of thing

The bus helps give the community an "open world to go on an adventure with."

www.vpm.org

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The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · Sep 7

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

The Mo Willems book characters elephant and piggy are shown sitting in a small toy bathtub with acrylic iridescent soap bubbles all around them. Next to them in a tiny doll salon chair you can just see the head of the toy character the pigeon who is reading a book titled “How to behave and why.”

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The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · Sep 2

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.

A colorful display of pencil cases on the Book Bus. There are turquoise pencil cases with pink zippers and gray images of Pusheen the cat, as well as multicolored pencil cases that go in looseleaf binders

The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · Sep 2

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.

A group of students hold their book choices and pose on the Book Bus

The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · Aug 27

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.

Young girls in front of the Book Bus holding books and balloon animals

Kids choose books and art supplies on the Book Bus

A mixed group of adults and children trying out and playing different musical instruments under a tree

A young girl holds her pink balloon dog while an adult blows up different balloon animals in the background

The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · Aug 25

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 😊

A group of fifth grade elementary schoolers pose on the Book Bus with their book choices

Two elementary schoolers compare their book choices on the Book Bus

Teachers and pre-K students select books on the Book Bus

A group of elementary schoolers sit outside the Book Bus on the sidewalk reading their books

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The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · Aug 21

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.

Two boys hold their new balloon swords on the book bus.

A woman making balloon animals is surrounded by kids at a small park

The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · Aug 13

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

The popular children’s book characters Elephant and Piggy from the Mo Willems series are strapped into a doll size salon chair, while the Pigeon sits off to the side with a pair of safety scissors on his wing

The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · Aug 11

That’s so kind of you to say, thank you

The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · Aug 11

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 😊

A young girl smiles while holding up The Free Book Bus flag at A Mother’s Touch Childcare

Staff and kids pose in front of the bus at A Mother’s Touch Childcare

A young girl smiles and holds up her book choices on the bus at Rita’s Bright Beginnings

A young boy stands on the Book Bus holding two books at Rita’s Bright Beginnings

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The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · Jul 30

😍🙌💕

The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · Jul 30

That’s the perfect word 😊

The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · Jul 30

I kind of want to see a picture of the dog and her tiny burger 😊

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The Free Book Bus @thefreebookbus.bsky.social · Jul 30

I’m seriously saving your comments for when I need a pick-me-up 🥹 thank you!

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