A Day in the Life of the Blue Bus Driver

In 2012, RHPL purchased a used bookmobile to expand its mobile library service. This

The current Early Literacy Bus (left) and the old Early Literacy Bus (right).

bookmobile launched as the Early Literacy Bus, providing books and offering storytimes to our youngest community members at their childcare centers and preschools. In 2025, with the passage of our millage, the library replaced this vehicle with a new early literacy bookmobile, aka The Blue Bus. But what does a day in the life of an early literacy bus look like?

Every morning, we start the day at the City of Rochester Hills Department of Public Service’s garage, where we park the bookmobiles. Each Monday through Friday, we head out excited to visit each school. We set up the Blue Bus so it’s ready to greet up to a hundred kids and their teachers each day. Our collection is easy to browse and organized with the smallest of patrons in mind. Every book on board is geared to ages 5 and under.  

The kids come aboard with smiles on their faces and a sense of independence, excited for the collection they know is waiting for them. Some children head straight to the dinosaur collection, others look at every shelf on the bus, and a few visit the seasonal cart in the back to see what is happening this month. Often, we have children searching for that extra special book, and they need help finding it. It’s so rewarding to help them find that gem! We even have special storytime kits for the teachers. These are found in green bags, and each contains six books on a singular topic for a quick and easy checkout. 

When a book is found by its soon-to-be reader, it's time to check out the item and get a STAMP! The excitement of which stamp it will be continues to amuse me. Every child will leave the early literacy bus with their very own book to read in the classroom, knowing we will return soon for them to pick more books.  The routine of checking out a book and creating a weekly collection for the classroom is anticipated and expected from the children on each visit. 

Each classroom heads back into the school for a storytime from an RHPL youth librarian.

As they gather to head out with a new bag of books for the classroom, I am already looking forward to the next time I will see them.

The early literacy bus is literally a vehicle for learning. We are out and about in the community, come rain or shine. Many residents mention that they have spotted us driving around from school to school. Maybe you will see us too.

Check out the top ten Blue Bus reads!

This post was written by Ms. Debbie, Blue Bus Bookmobile Driver