There are only a handful of primary school memories that seem to stand the test of time. A playground kiss, a first broken bone, only a few manage to leave a lasting impression.
Russ the Story Bus is one of these memories.
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An initiative ran by the Sydney Writers’ Festival, Russ the Story Bus is an interactive, travelling experience that inspires children to think creatively about reading, writing and storytelling.
Visiting disadvantaged primary schools around Western Sydney and regional NSW, students enjoy taking part in an interactive talk presented by a children’s book author or illustrator, as well as the opportunity for children to pick their own book to take home.
“It started out as a project to simply deliver author talks and books to areas where children weren’t getting any access to them,” Sydney Writers’ Festival children program head Nathan Luff told ABC.
“We knew that there was so much expense involved in excursions, so we knew that we were going to have to make our experience portable.
“So how do you do that? How do you cart books and things like that around? So of course, a bus makes sense.”
Originally a retired school bus, Russ underwent a massive face-lift back in 2014 when it was fitted out to become a portable library.
“When you get on that bus, of course, there are shelves everywhere, there are books everywhere. For a child, they think it’s a magical library,” Luff says.
Since its inception, over 10,000 students from 57 schools have received an inspiring author talk and had their choice of book to take home.
Around 90 per cent of these schools visited had an index of socio-economic advantage (ICSEA) score of less than 1000.
“For many of these students, this will be the first book that they own,” Luff says.
“Our program aims to inspire an early love of reading and connects their literacy learning at school with the home environment.”
Feedback from teachers and parents has been encouraging, with many delighted at how excited the children had left the program.
“Our students loved their visit from Russ the Bus. They were amazed with all the books and were in shock when they were told they got to take home a book for ‘free’,” a Castlereagh Public representative told ABC.
“For the days and weeks after, I often found kids still carrying their books around and reading them. Russ the Bus definitely left a buzz about books at Castlereagh!”
While the program has continued to grow with every year, the kilometres clocked on the dash means Russ is soon due for an upgrade.
“Our current bus is 35 years old and, following a difficult tour through the flood affected Northern Rivers region in 2023, significant mechanical repairs have been required,” Sydney Writers’ Festival head of development Lauren Dixon told ABC.
“While we have been assured the current bus will be up to the task for our 2024 and 2025 tours, by 2026 we will need a replacement.”
The new bus will need to be fitted out and redesigned to continue the magical legacy of Russ, and ensure the bus is accessible for children in wheelchairs (which it currently isn’t) and meets other accessibility criteria.
“The current demand for Russ means we are only able to visit 40 per cent of the schools who submit an EOI each year,” Dixon says.
“We’re also currently unable to revisit schools who have previously had a visit. A new bus will enable us to travel further distances and expand the tour through larger areas of regional NSW and down the South Coast.”
If anyone would like to support the program, they can contact Lauren Dixon at lauren.dixon@swf.org.au.
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