Rio Rancho Teachers Union is giving out free books

RIO RANCHO — On Jan. 12, the Rio Rancho School Employees Union will be in the Ernest Stapleton Elementary School parking lot, and they’ll have trunks full of books.

Even better, those are trunks full of free books.

AFT National and United Health Professionals of New Mexico (from Sandoval Regional Medical Center) will be co-hosting the “Reading Opens the World” event, which takes place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 12 at Stapleton Elementary.

According to Billie Helean, president of the Rio Rancho School Employees Union, AFT will be bringing 30,000 books to Rio Rancho. And all of them will be free.

“We’ll have books for all ages, pre-K to 12th grade,” she said. “Each family can take up to 10 books per student, with a maximum of 30 books per family. Teaching staff can also take up to 50 books for their classroom.”

With so many books coming in so quickly, the union needs a little help. After all, 30,000 books are a lot to go through with limited staff.

Helean says they really need volunteer help on Saturday, Jan. 11. The goal is to have all of the books sorted and organized before the big event the following day.

She adds that, as an extra incentive, “Any education staff who come to help sort books on Saturday, Jan. 11, will be able to choose their books at the end of their shift; they will still have the opportunity to bring their own children to choose up to 10 books on Sunday the 12th.”

Of course, books aren’t the only thing going on at the Reading Opens the World event. Helean said there will also be health screenings, dental care, a reading room filled with doggies from the “Tales of Joy” program, craft stations and more.

And yes, the craft area will include a “Swifty-bracelet” making station.

Or, if that’s not your thing, you can scoot over to the poster station and make a life-sized poster of yourself.

For information on how to volunteer, visit SignUpGenius or contact Helean at the Rio Rancho School Employees Union.