About the Book Bus
After 25 years of teaching in various underprivileged schools across the country, Melanie Moore rerouted her career to focus on inspiring a passion for reading by delivering the joy of owning books. Inspired by the book Parnassus on Wheels, she converted her husband’s 1962 VW truck into a mobile bookstore, and The Book Bus was born. For over 4 years she popped up around Cincinnati, quickly realizing that she wanted to use all the profits to buy new children’s books to benefit low income children.
An article in the March 2021 Costco Connection magazine catapulted The Book Bus into the national scene, and readers from around the country started following the Book Bus social media to receive book recommendations and learn about the deserving children who were receiving free books. They also started messaging with Melanie to order their own new books.
In November 2022, Melanie opened a brick and mortar store, The Book Bus Depot, in suburban Cincinnati to increase the footprint of her mission. The store features new and used books for the whole family in a cozy space reminiscent of a vintage bus depot.
The Book Bus Depot is now flourishing as a popular destination for Indie Bookstore lovers from all over the US, and we offer a variety of community events through the store. There is a special section of highly curated titles from unique UK publishers who specialize in works of under-represented female authors, alongside beautifully covered classics, seasonal specialties, expected current titles, and a surprisingly wonderful selection of used books. We are completely staffed with volunteers who support the mission and appreciate meeting fellow book-lovers and talking about books. The Book Bus achieved official 501c3 status in May 2023, and all the profits from the Book Bus Depot go directly to fund the stated mission. Along with your book and merchandise orders, we accept tax deductible donations to help realize our goals.
As of December 2024, The Book Bus has provided over $318,171 worth of books to deserving children and agencies and hope to continue making such an impact in the future years.
