Juvenile Welfare Board Encourages Reading with Book Bus

This month, Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County representatives have been stopping at “Summer Book Bus” locations across the community with one goal in mind: to provide children with two free books.

A collaboration with Pinellas County Schools, over 10,000 books were purchased for this year’s effort. 

JWB team members will visit 85 different locations, including summer camps, public libraries, early learning centers, apartment complexes and recreation centers. The tour includes stops in St. Petersburg, Tarpon Springs, Pinellas Park and other areas. 

The books are being distributed to all ages, from infants to teenagers. JWB acquired the assets through a variety of discount warehouses. 

“Summer is a critical time because many kids lose important literacy and reading skills when they’re out of school,” said JWB community collaborations coordinator Brianna Ray. “With this project, what we’re doing is bringing books to them, we’re encouraging reading and we’re helping to prevent that summer learning loss while making reading something that is fun and also attainable.” 

The recipients get to keep the books and build their own personal libraries, she explained. 

Children have been able to select from a wide range of genres. These include graphic novels and books about outer space, animals and princesses. “Our goal is that kids are excited about the books they have,” Ray added, “and are excited to read.” 

She said that “reading just 20 minutes a day every day makes a huge difference when kids go back to school in August.” 

Additionally, representatives from the myON street team have been participating in the initiative. Developed by Renaissance Learning, myON is digital reading platform that offers more than 8,000 books. Through a partnership between JWB, Pinellas County Schools and United Way Suncoast, Pinellas County children from birth through 5th grade can access the platform free of charge.

Food has also been provided at some of the Summer Book Bus stops through the Pinellas Childhood Hunger Collaborative. According to JWB’s website, the initiative was designed to encourage collaboration among partners, increase access, align resources and fill gaps in food security. 

In 2025, JWB introduced the Meal Mobile. A JWB-funded pop-up food pantry, the items are stocked by the St. Pete Free Clinic. During last year’s Summer Book Bus program, approximately 4,000 boxes of shelf-stable food were distributed. 

This marks the ninth year of the Summer Book Bus Program. Ray said that the effort is part of the Early Readers, Future Leaders: Pinellas Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, which was launched by JWB and a group of partners.

The initiative focuses on five key factors that impact proficiency: school readiness, school attendance, summer learning, parent and family engagement and healthy readers. Over 10,700 books were given to children during last year’s Summer Book Bus program. 

“Our vision is that all kids are reading on grade level by 3rd grade,” she explained. “We’re looking at that specific indicator because it’s our earliest and best predictor of high school graduation and future success.” 

Read the article as originally published at https://stpetecatalyst.com/juvenile-welfare-board-encourages-reading-with-book-bus/