Reading with Rodney Bus

Our district used to have a convocation meeting with everyone who works in GISD. At one a couple years ago, we were all introduced to the story of Rodney, who gave his name to the Reading with Rodney Bus. Rodney is a worker at the CCC building who could not read. People in the district worked together to help Rodney learn how to read. 

We now have a bookmobile called the Reading with Rodney bus. Students and families from across the community donated gently used or new books to stock the bus. Since the initial loading of the bus, the program has received donations to buy new books. I have been lucky enough to get to work on some of these book orders and I cannot wait to see the students enjoying the new books from the bus. I will hopefully be working on the bus some this summer and get to help students pick out just right books for them.

I first worked on the Reading with Rodney bus at a GoGreen event in September. The crowd was sparse at first, but it quickly grew. Many were still wondering what was going on in the big purple bus. I have since worked on the bus several times and it is an amazing experience. 

You connect with kids over their joy in finding awesome books to read and with adults who share the love of reading with their children. You also get a lot of "I just wanted to see inside!"  The artwork on the bus brings people in to check it out. Everyone always asks "how do the books stay on the shelves?" It is fun to see people's first reactions to the wonder that is a library on wheels.

I encourage you to stay tuned to find out the summer schedule for the Reading with Rodney bus that will be coming soon. I always end up checking out at least 3 or 4 books for myself...and then I return them to any Garland ISD school or to the bus. Easy peasy!