The MARC (Mobile Area Resource Centre) Van program is a remarkable initiative that brings the magic of libraries to schools across rural and regional Victoria. These mobile libraries on wheels are true gems, offering invaluable services to students and teachers alike.

Approximately 40 MARC Van Services operate throughout rural and regional Victoria.  These vans are attached to government schools, with teachers operating from a Base School and visiting other schools weekly or fortnightly. They share resources, provide specialist teaching, and offer time release to classroom teachers.

According to the Grasmere Primary School website: 

The MARC Library Program aims to:

• Promote a love of reading and a genuine appreciation of literature among all students.
• Contribute to the development of a strong reading culture within each school.
• Keep updated with new release reading material that is of high interest to students and staff.
• Provide a wide range of resources that will stimulate growth in factual knowledge, thinking skills, problem-solving ability, and cognitive development.
• Provide a weekly library lesson that is highly engaging for students and aims to further develop skills across a range of curriculum areas, with a focus on literacy.
• Provide teaching staff with highly effective teaching materials that will enrich and support the Victorian Curriculum, taking into consideration the varied interests, abilities, and needs of different cohorts and individual students.

Kim James, who manages the Tarago MARC van visits 285 students at five Primary Schools in West Gippsland. These schools range in student population from 9 (one class) to 82 students (four classes). The MARC service enables small rural and regional schools access to a broader range of books and educational resources. The Tarago van holds 3,000 children’s books, with a further 8,000 books stored in the collection at the Base School. Students borrow books weekly and all participate in a literacy lesson where they read and celebrate reading and books.

And the fact that the artwork on the Skipton PS MARC van, run by Gayle Munson was designed by the students themselves is a delightful touch, truly making these mobile libraries an extension of the schools they serve.

Watch out for these vans on the road as you travel around regional Victoria and give them a special library wave as you pass.

Hats (or books) off to the entire MARC Van team – you are truly making a difference in the lives of students and teachers across the state!

(There are Mobile Art Craft Centre, MACC, vans visiting schools too.)

MARC van library staff receive free membership of SLAV for 2025 as part of our SPP grant funding. 

*The title of this post was created with help from AI.