This is a text-only version of an article first published on Wednesday, 27 April 2016. Information shown on this page may no longer be current.
An Oxford primary school with no dedicated library has just welcomed one with a difference. On Friday 22 April, a completely refitted and refurbished former Oxford Bus Company bus was driven into St Francis CE Primary School, Cowley.
Pupils, staff, parents and governors cheered in anticipation as they waited for the grand arrival of the new library, which has been donated and converted free of charge by the Oxford Bus Company.
Original artwork by the pupils decorates the walls inside the bus and children have been involved at every stage of the process, coming up with designs for their ideal library, creating artwork which could go on its walls and choosing their favourite quote about reading to be written on the outside. Watch a video of the bus being driven into the school here: A reading area in the school was converted into a much needed storage area in the summer of 2014 and since then, while the school has plenty of books in classrooms and corridors, it has not had a dedicated reading space.
A group of parents, governors and staff have been working closely with the Oxford Bus Company since October to bring this project to reality.
More than £4,500 has been raised to date through individual donations, fundraising applications and cake sales and the project group is continuing to raise money to bring the project to fruition.
The bus is equipped with heating, lighting and power points but in the short term it will not be connected up to mains electricity.
This second phase of the project will need more fundraising. Among the generous supporters of the bus is Blackwell's Bookshop, which has agreed to 'match' every single book bought for St Francis's new library with another brand new book - so for every book bought by a supporter of the school, the library will receive two.
This campaign will run until the bus is officially launched with a week-long celebration of reading in July and from early May, anyone will be able to go into Blackwells and buy a book for the bus. Project leader and parent governor Fran Mundin said: "This is such an incredibly exciting development for the school.
The children - not to mention the parents and staff - are so excited and are really looking forward to seeing the bus and being able to use it. "We couldn't have done this without the support in particular from Oxford Bus Company, who have been absolutely fantastic.
We have been genuinely touched by the support we have received - it has been a real community effort. "Teacher, Lucy Crick, who has driven the project since its inception, said: "Not having the space for a proper library has been a challenge for St Francis for many years.
The Library bus has not just solved this problem, but is giving children of all ages the chance to get excited about reading."