JWB Book Bus Hits the Road

The Juvenile Welfare Board and its Summer Book Bus are on the road once again, spending three weeks delivering free books to children in underserved neighborhoods across Pinellas County to combat summer learning loss.

A partnership with Pinellas County Schools, the JWB Summer Book Bus is scheduled to make more than 80 stops at community sites from Tarpon Springs to South St. Petersburg in July and will be giving away more than 10,000 brand-new books to 5,000 children. Book Bus stops include public libraries, community recreation centers, neighborhood family centers, childcare centers, and more.

At each stop, children can climb aboard the bus, retrofitted as a mobile bookfair on wheels, and to select two free books to take home. It’s all part of JWB’s Early Readers Future Leaders Grade-Level Reading Campaign, helping mitigate summer learning loss while instilling a love of reading in kids of all ages.

Brand-new this year is the addition of the Meal Mobile, which will set up pop-up food pantry events at 36 Book Bus sites. These new food pantry pop-ups are expected to serve 2,500 children and families, providing a combination of shelf stable foods and/or produce.

See the article as originally published at https://www.tbnweekly.com/pinellas_county/article_7227915b-2d96-4d59-9933-40405bc9e1e5.html