It's Alvan, the Little Book Bus!
It's Alvan, the Little Book Bus!
Embedded Files
ALVAN the Little Book Bus (Buford's little brother) will be on the road again this summer! The locations and schedule will be posted soon.
ALVAN the Little Book Bus (Buford's little brother) will be on the road again this summer! The locations and schedule will be posted soon.
Kids of all ages are invited to meet Alvan and select free brand-new books to read and keep.
Kids of all ages are invited to meet Alvan and select free brand-new books to read and keep.
Alvan's Schedule - Coming Soon!
Summer 2026
All About Alvan, the Little Book Bus
Q: What do I need to do to get free books from Alvan?
A: Just be there! Come to one of the locations listed above on the right day at the right time.
Q: Who can get free books from Alvan?
A: Any baby, toddler, child, or teen.
Q: What kinds of books do you have?
A: Good ones!
Q: Do I need to bring the books back?
A: No. They are yours to keep forever (or share with a friend).
Q: Why should I spend my summer break reading?
A: Because it's fun! Books let you go on fabulous adventures or meet interesting people or learn cool stuff without ever leaving home. And reading during the break - even fun books! - will help keep your reading skills super-strong all summer so you will be ready for next school year.
THANK YOU
Our flagship sponsor Better ATX has been "fueling" the Book Bus program with brand new books since 2015, and donated our fabulous Little Book Bus!
Click here to learn more about this wonderful organization and the many ways they support our community, and check out their amazing thrift shop at 4901 Burnet Road.
Buford the Book Bus / Alvan the Little Book Bus is a program of the Austin ISD Library Services Department, proudly supporting literacy all across the District by supporting our campus libraries and providing programs like this one.
Buford the Book Bus + Alvan the Little Book Bus
A program of Austin ISD Library Media Services
THE MISSION: Buford and Alvan’s mission is to encourage and increase summer reading by providing new, high-interest books to students who have limited access to reading materials during the summer.
THE RATIONALE: Research has shown that reading just five books can protect students from a drop in reading levels known as the "summer slide", which disproportionately affects lower-income students (Alexander, Entwisle, & Olson, 2007; Kim, 2004).
The effects of the summer slide are cumulative, and can have serious consequences. As much as 85% of the reading achievement gap between lower-income students and their middle- and upper-income peers can be attributed to the summer slide (Allington & McGill-Frasen, 2009).
By creating the opportunity for children to receive high-interest books of their own, the Buford the Book Bus program strives to prevent the summer slide and encourage reading year round.
Alvan's Schedule
Summer 2025
Buford Summer 2020
Buford Summer 2020
Thank you to everyone who made Buford the Book Bus possible this summer!
Thank you to everyone who made Buford the Book Bus possible this summer!
Buford the Book Bus
Buford the Book Bus
Curbside!
Curbside!
This summer, Library Media Services' Buford the Book Bus hit the streets of Austin. "This was not our normal setup, but we were able to get books into children's hands!", said Stella Bromley, librarian at Library Media Services.
In collaboration with Austin ISD Nutrition & Food Services, librarians joined the curbside Summer Meal Program. "AISD always strives to be a full-service district; we are feeding students' brains as well as their bodies," according to Shannon Pearce, librarian at Library Media Services.
Buford also put two brand new books in each backpack distributed through the Austin ISD BackPack Back to School Bash! TOTAL- 1,304 books
TOTAL BOOKS in children's hands-
TOTAL BOOKS in children's hands-
1884 books
1884 books
SCHOOLS visited = 9 schools
Blackshear ES Burnet MS
Pleasant Hill ES LBJ HS
Akins HS Govalle ES
St. Elmo ES Pickle ES
Lively MS
LIBRARIANS & VOLUNTEERS = 15 people
DONATIONS = 3 organizations
Superintendent Dr. Cruz
American Federation of Teachers,
in partnership with First Book
Lakeshore Learning
&
Austin Assistance League
Virtual Buford
10 Video Sessions- sharing "how-to" access to digital resources
& celebration of stories
THANK YOU!
THANK YOU!
Shannon Pearce, librarian @ LMC
Roger Grape, librarian @ Blackshear ES
August 2019-
August 2019-
Thank you to everyone that came out to choose free books and to our fabulous volunteers!
Thank you to everyone that came out to choose free books and to our fabulous volunteers!
THANK YOU TO OUR VOLUNTEERS!
THANK YOU TO OUR VOLUNTEERS!
& our wonderful AustinISD Librarians and teachers!
& our wonderful AustinISD Librarians and teachers!
Summer 2019
Summer 2019
13
13
Sites Visited: Widen ES, Navarro ECHS, Travis Heights ES, Northeast ECHS, Walnut Creek ES, Uphaus ECC, Ortega ES, Perez ES, Padron ES, Hart ES, Harris ES, Galindo ES, and Brooke ES!
3297
3297
Books,books, books, books, books, books,
books,books, books, books, books, books, books,books,books, books, books, books, books,books,books, books, books, books, books,books,books, books, books, books, books,books,books, books, books, books, books,books,books, books, books, books, books,books, books, given to
AISD students!!!!
108
108
Community Volunteers-
Assistance League of Austin, Austin Allies, Dell-EMC: Channel Legal, MyOn, Complete Books, Austin Public Library, Texas Book Festival, and AISD teachers and librarians!
5
5
Sponsors: Donations & Grants-
Assistance League of Austin, Believe in Reading (grant), Murchison Middle School Library- "Buy One, Give One" Program, BookSpring, and Complete Books
Other Sites: Austin ISD Back-To-School Bash; and CapCityKids Empowerment Academy*
*books not counted!
Special Thank Yous to our sponsors!
Special Thank Yous to our sponsors!
FINAL COUNTS AND VISITS FOR SUMMER 2018!
FINAL COUNTS AND VISITS FOR SUMMER 2018!
16
16
Sites Visited: T. A. Brown ES, Webb Primary/ MS, Martin MS, Kocurek ES, Paredes MS,Graham ES, Means MS, Lanier HS, Metz ES, Pecan Springs ES, Casey ES, Dobie MS,
Pickle ES, Menchaca ES, plus Back-to-School Bash &CapCityKids Giveaway
5118
5118
Books,books, books, books, books, books,
books,books, books, books, books, books, books,books,books, books, books, books, books,books,books, books, books, books, books,books,books, books, books, books, books,books,books, books, books, books, books,books,books, books, books, books, books,books, books, given to
AISD students!!!!
67
67
Community Volunteers-
Assistance League of Austin, Austin Allies, Dell-EMC, Generation Serve, and AISD teachers and librarians!
6
6
Sponsors: Donations & Grants-
Assistance League of Austin, Believe in Reading (grant), Murchison Middle School Library- Buy One, Give One Program, BookSpring, MyOn, and Lakeshore
The Paredes Middle School visit 07/17/2018!
The Paredes Middle School visit 07/17/2018!
Thank you AISD Department of Communications and Community Engagement for the great video!
Thank you AISD Department of Communications and Community Engagement for the great video!
Summer 2018
Summer 2018
Dates & Time
Dates & Time
AM- 10 AM - 11:30 AM
PM- 12:30 PM - 2 PM
JULY
T. A. Brown ES- 07/10/18-AM
Webb Primary/ MS- 07/10/18- PM
Martin MS- 07/11/18-AM
Kocurek ES 07/17/18-AM
Paredes MS- 07/17/18-PM
Graham ES 7/18/18- AM
Means MS- 07/18/18- PM
We will be needing the following volunteers in June and July. Each of the jobs require approximately 1-3 hours.
Signup HERE!
Buford Departure Assistants- loading the bus at the Library Media Center @ ALLAN (745 Mansell Ave)
Buford Book Cart Attendants- assist students find the "perfect" book.
Digital Techie- assist students and families access district Ebooks and digital resources.
Activity Bee- create with our students: book make making, coloring pages, storytelling, read aloud...
Inventory Assistants- assist in creating and updating inventory including stamping books.
Buford Arrival Assistants- unloading the bus at the Library Media Center @ ALLAN (745 Mansell Ave)
Texas Library Association- Powered Libraries- 2017
Texas Library Association- Powered Libraries- 2017
Special Thank Yous!
Special Thank Yous!
Make a donation- Coming Soon
About Buford the Book Bus- Coming Soon!
Contact information:
Shannon.Pearce@austinisd.org (512)414.4923
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