By Emma Castleberry
Sarah Justice, media specialist at Rosman Middle and High schools, believes that every child should not only have access to books but the opportunity to own them. This is the ethos behind her Magic Book Bus, a project for which Justice was awarded the 2023 Governor’s Volunteer Service Award presented by the NC Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service. “I want these kids to have access to books not just during the school year, but at any point,” she says. “I want them to be able to walk over to their own bookshelves and know that there is something there just for them.”
Rosman Elementary School students visit the Magic Book Bus
The Magic Book Bus is hard to miss—it’s a classic school bus painted bright turquoise with colorful lettering and more whimsical painting on the inside. She worked with art teacher Amy Schoenacher and art students to complete the bright interior and exterior design. “I wanted people to see it driving down the road and wonder what that amazing thing was coming towards them,” says Justice. “I wanted them to walk inside and then never want to leave because it was so inviting. I also wanted to showcase the amazing talent of the students within our school.”
Justice purchased the bus three years ago using funds granted by the Brevard and Pisgah Forest Rotary Clubs. Over the course of seven weeks in the summer, Justice travels to libraries, festivals and other stops throughout Western North Carolina, where she distributes as many as 150 books weekly. All of Justice’s time spent on the book bus is volunteered and she supplies the bus through in-kind and monetary donations so that students don’t need to return books unless they want to. “If they want to exchange books each time they come, they are more than welcome to, but if they want to build up their own personal libraries at home, I also encourage that,” she says.
North Carolina author Alicia D. Williams on the Magic Book Bus
Justice has seen first-hand the power of book ownership and how much joy it creates. “At one of my stops last summer, one child was standing there, holding a stack of books in her arms, hugging them, and said, ‘I have more books in my hands right now than we have in our whole house.’ That made a huge impact on me. The kids want to have books in their hands. They love to have books.”
The Magic Book Bus will start its summer route on June 22 and travel around every Thursday until school goes back into session. Justice will also bring the bus to the Heart of Brevard Halloweenfest and the Brevard and Rosman Christmas Parade this year. To learn more, see the bus’s schedule and donate, follow @rosmanmedia on Instagram and Facebook.
