Like the original Classroom on Wheels, this new, expanded version will feature reading for young and old — from board books for toddlers to adult fiction and nonfiction for mom and dad. The library's 1,000 donated volumes, most of which can be checked out, include classics for all ages — "Harry Potter" to Dr. Seuss' "The Cat in The Hat" to Dickens' "Christmas Carol."

Mahdavi said she's reluctant to use the term bookmobile because it connotes a rigid scholastic program.

"Yes, we'll have the books. But there's also laptop computers if people want to practice typing or do word processing," she said. "And, we'll have activities — either reading aloud or circle time or something that will involve the group, parents with their babies, toddlers or young children.

Mahdavi, the program's coordinator, arranges some of the 1,000 books in the Classroom on Wheels. She says the program is meant to be a safe and friendly environment for kids to come in and explore. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

Tomorrow, the air-conditioned road show will kick off its new beginning at a familiar location, Ohana Ola, a Lualualei Valley program that offers affordable housing to qualified homeless families with kids for up to two years. During that time family members are educated in coping skills and self-sufficiency.

"Learning how to read is a major component of joining the mainstream," said Pearl Gomes, an Ohana Ola O Kahumana case worker. "We're excited about the bookmobile coming here again."

Tomorrow's visit will be a special occasion, with refreshments, representatives of sponsoring groups, and free gift bags containing books, note pads, bookworm bookmarks and notebooks. Each bag is a little different.

The Classroom on Wheels program was begun by Adult Literacy in the mid-1990s, around the same time the organization started Adult and Family Literacy programs on the Wai'anae Coast.

Leeward Community College offered Hawai'i Literacy a Chevy minivan to use as a bookmobile. The James Campbell Foundation offered money. Soon the traveling unit was a welcome presence in Wai'anae — with both kids and parents alike. Many adults took advantage of the opportunity to learn to read themselves.

But when the van broke down about three years ago and there was no money available to repair it, the bookmobile project screeched to a halt.

About a year ago, the Pizza Hut Literacy Foundation offered to jump-start the program with a major sponsorship grant. When the Rotary Club of Honolulu Sunset heard about it, one of its members donated a refurbished 1987 Ford 27-passenger bus.

"The Classroom on Wheels is actually the 2005 centennial project of the Wai'anae Coast Rotary Club," said Sunset Rotary member Richard Zegar. "But the van itself, as well as its handmade bookcases, colorful flooring and electrical rewiring, were donated by the Rotary Club of Honolulu Sunset."