Bright Red Book Bus providing take-out reading materials for Kamloops kids

KAMLOOPS – The Bright Red Book Bus has been making its way around Kamloops this summer, encouraging a love of reading for children and providing the opportunity to take home new books.

This summer, the bus has taken on a food truck theme. Kids are asked to use a book menu to decide and retrieve their books from a take-out window.

Boys and Girls Club Executive Director Traci Anderson says they had to switch their operations so prevent kids from going inside the bus, but the new system has been working very well.

“We’re just really focusing on the most popular books that kids are asking for,” she explains. “We’re really lucky to have that support and sponsorship through the School District and Literacy in Kamloops to support us to be able to deliver the program and have a really good budget for some really awesome books that kids are really interested in reading.”

Rotating between the north and south shores, the bus spends mornings from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon on school properties and moves to public parks in the afternoons from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m..

Durning these sessions, Anderson says the bus will provide a book to 40 to 50 kids, with the added bonus of not having to return the item when they’re finished reading it.

“The whole idea of the book bus is that kids don’t have to return the books. It’s about book ownership. And we’re really just trying to encourage kids reading throughout the summer and just enjoying a lifelong passion of reading.”

A full schedule of where and when the bus will be can be found on the Bright Red Book Bus Facebook page, or online on the Literacy in Kamloops website.