You can give a child the gift of reading by helping ABQ Ride stuff a bus with books on April 2. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Central and Unser Transit Center at the corner of Central and Unser, you can bring new or gently-used children’s books and put them inside an ABQ Ride bus.
Radio José 105.9 FM will be broadcasting live from the Central and Unser Transit Center during the Stuff the Bus event. Also, people bringing in books automatically will be entered in a raffle for a free, Family Four Pack at iT’Z-Family, Food and Fun in Albuquerque. The Family Four Pack is a $60 value which includes four unlimited buffet and drink tickets, along with four, $5 fun cards with 20 points each.
“For nine years, ABQ Ride has been placing books on its buses for children and adults to read and take home,” said Bruce Rizzieri, director of ABQ Ride. “The Discover a Book program makes taking public transit a more meaningful experience, especially for children.”
Discover a Book is a part of the Albuquerque Business Education Compact (ABEC) and the city of Albuquerque’s annual Read to Me Book Drive. Some of the collected books end up in ABQ RIDE buses. Others are distributed to elementary school children from low-income families. They are asked to take the books home to read during the summer. The programs also encourage families to read to their children at least 10 minutes a day.
In 2014, the citywide program collected and gave out over 44,000 books. The goal for 2015 is to collect 45,000 books. English, Spanish, Vietnamese and bilingual books are also welcomed.
The location of the Stuff the Bus event is also significant in that nearby, a new Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Public Library is set to open in the coming weeks at the corner of Central and Unser. It will be a 25,000 square foot facility that will feature book collections for adults and children, group rooms, reading areas, activity and meeting space and more than 40 computers.
