Buford the Book Bus is on a mission to keep students reading ALL summer!
Kids of all ages are invited to visit Buford and select brand-new books to keep.
Buford Rides Again!
Summer 2024 Schedule
Monday June 3 8:30 - 10:30 a.m. Houston Elementary 5409 Ponciana Dr., 78744
Tuesday June 4 8:30 - 10:30 a.m. Kocurek Elementary 9800 Curlew Dr., 78748
Wednesday June 5 8:30 - 10:30 a.m. Govalle Elementary 3601 Govalle Ave., 78702
Thursday June 6 8:30 - 10:30 a.m. Pecan Springs Elementary 3100 Rogge Lane, 78723
Wednesday June 12 8:30 - 10:30 a.m. Pillow Elementary 3025 Crosscreek Dr., 78757
Thursday June 13 8:30 - 10:30 a.m. Wooldridge Elementary 1412 Norseman Terrace 78758
Monday June 17 8:30 - 10:30 a.m. Casey Elementary 9400 Texas Oaks Dr., 78748
Tuesday June 18 8:30 - 10:30 a.m. Hart Elementary 8301 Furness Dr., 78753
Wednesday June 19 8:30 - 10:30 a.m. Uphaus Early Childhood Ctr. 5200 Friedrich Lane, 78744
All About Buford
Q: What do I need to do to get free books from Buford?
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 Buford?
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 books during the break - even really fun ones! - will help you keep your reading skills super-strong all summer long so you will be super-ready for next school year.
Summer 2023
Summer 2022
Whew!
Buford has completed his rounds for June, 2022. It was really hot out there, but totally worth it. We visited 4 locations and distributed more than 1,500 books to students all around Austin!
To our amazing sponsor, the Assistance League of Austin, which provides the brand new books for students: THANK YOU for keeping Buford "fueled up" ever since we first hit the road in 2015. There is a whole lot of summer reading going on in Austin thanks to your generosity!
And many thanks to Austin Allies for providing fabulous volunteers who helped students select their books and assisted with set-up, loading boxes, and lots and lots of book counting. Y'all are fabulous!
Summer 2021 by the NUMBERS!
Volunteer!
COMING SOON FOR 2022!!!
Buford the Book Bus is a program of Austin ISD Libraries, proudly supporting literacy in AISD with a certified school librarian at every campus.
Many thanks to our flagship sponsor, the Assistance League of Austin. Click HERE to learn more about this wonderful organization and their work.
AISD Food Services provides free summer meals at many locations in Austin, including the schools on our schedule. Click HERE for more information.
Buford the Book Bus
A program of Austin ISD Library Media Services
THE MISSION: Buford’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.
Buford Summer 2020
Thank you to everyone who made Buford the Book Bus possible this summer!
Buford the Book Bus
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-
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!
Shannon Pearce, librarian @ LMC
Roger Grape, librarian @ Blackshear ES
August 2019-
Thank you to everyone that came out to choose free books and to our fabulous volunteers!
THANK YOU TO OUR VOLUNTEERS!
& our wonderful AustinISD Librarians and teachers!
Summer 2019
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
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
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
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!
FINAL COUNTS AND VISITS FOR SUMMER 2018!
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
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
Community Volunteers-
Assistance League of Austin, Austin Allies, Dell-EMC, Generation Serve, and AISD teachers and librarians!
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!
Thank you AISD Department of Communications and Community Engagement for the great video!
Summer 2018
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
Special Thank Yous!
Make a donation- Coming Soon
About Buford the Book Bus- Coming Soon!
Contact information:
Shannon.Pearce@austinisd.org (512)414.4923
