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C.O.W. bus revisits Bentley

Once again the Alberta Prairie ‘Classroom On Wheels’ (C.O.W.) bus was invited by the local library to come to Bentley.
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Alicia Bayntun

Once again the Alberta Prairie ‘Classroom On Wheels’ (C.O.W.) bus was invited by the local library to come to Bentley.

On September 17 it was set up in the Bentley Municipal Library parking lot for viewing from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for Bentley and area families to enjoy.

The C.O.W bus bookmobile offers free activities and a free drop in program promoting family literacy and awareness for preschoolers and their accompanying adult. It tours about 70 rural and urban communities across Alberta each year.

The unique paint job of the older style school bus is hard to mistake. Inside, the bus showcases books and other purchased items as well as homemade ideas that are fun for the adults and tykes to explore, to learn from, and to engage in together.

This year Megan Vander Griend, Alberta Prairie C.O.W. Bus Coordinator, and Sharon Smith, Alberta Prairie C.O.W. Bus Facilitator, were the trained facilitators who greeted guests. Vander Griend had been to Bentley with the bus before.

Free activities by library staff such as face painting, a guest story reader, and a craft, were also offered in conjunction with the visit.

A legacy literacy library of 50 free quality books for the library aimed at the 6 and under crowd was presented to Mayor Lynda Haarstad-Petten who accepted it on behalf of the town.

The Alberta Prairie C.O.W. Bus is funded by Government of Alberta, Enterprise and Advanced Education. It is a project of the Centre for Family Literacy and has been in operation since 2003.