Russ the Story Bus is a mobile library that visits primary schools in New South Wales outside of central and eastern Sydney with guest authors and illustrators. It is managed by the Sydney Writer's Festival. [1]
Russ began as a way for Australian children's authors and illustrators to give talks at schools they may not typically visit. [2] These areas include primary schools in Western Sydney (such as Bankstown, Blacktown, Cabramatta, Liverpool, Parramatta, and Penrith), [3] regional New South Wales, [2] and the Australian Capital Territory. [4] [5]
During visits, children can pick a book to take home for free [2] and are encouraged to swap a preloved book for a new one. [6] Russ has headphones for children to listen to audiobooks. [6]
Guest speakers on Russ have included Jeff Kinney, [3] Andy Griffiths [3] James Roy, [7] Richard Roxburgh, [8] Jules Faber [9] and Damon Young, [4] Tony Wilson, [10] Kate Forsyth, [10] and Katrina Nannestad. [11]
Russ was originally a school bus, and was remodelled into a mobile library in 2014. [2]
In 2016, Russ featured art on its outside by author and artist Shaun Tan. [12] As of 2024, the exterior outwork features art by Cheryl Orsini. [13] The interior of the bus was designed by the Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA) and built by Mark Swartz using 580 pieces of curved plywood. [14] It was shortlisted for a 2017 NSW Architecture Awards in the Small Project category. [15]
Russ is over 35 years old and has experienced wear over time, meaning that the physical bus will need to be replaced by 2026. [2]