Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to Celebrate Ethiopian Mobile Library

DENVER, May 6 /PRNewswire/ -- An official ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate Ethiopia's version of the Mobile Library System, an Ethiopian Donkey Cart Library, will be at The Denver Center for International Studies at 574 W. 6th Avenue in Denver and begins at 11:00 a.m. MDT on Friday, May 7, 2010.

An official replica of an Ethiopian Donkey Cart, complete with donkeys, will be present for the ribbon cutting ceremony. The donkey carts deliver books to rural areas of the country, which often lack schools.

Students from The Denver Center for International Studies will bring donated books and fill the mobile library in a symbolic act of giving the gift of literacy to their peers in Ethiopia, receiving hands-on involvement in understanding the importance of education worldwide. Since the inception of the Ethiopia Reads Foundation, 52 libraries and five mobile donkey carts have been brought to the country.

Yohannes Gebregeorgis, Ethiopia Reads' founder, former political refugee, and recognized literacy advocate, as well as Denver Philanthropist Noel Cunningham, will preside over the ceremony. The event is being organized by the Cunningham Foundation and Ethiopia Reads - two organizations dedicated to bringing literacy to the impoverished children of Ethiopia. Mr. Gebregeorgis, a native and current resident of Ethiopia, was named one of the "Top 10 Heroes of the Year" by CNN in recognition of his work to bring positive global change by empowering children through education. Yohannes is also a recipient of the 2008 Presidential Citation for International Innovation from the American Library Association, one of the first to receive this honor in its inaugural year.

"After organizing efforts to feed the people of Ethiopia for many years, I recognize the most important avenue for lasting change is education. It's simple. Connecting children and books will bring powerful, positive change in our own lifetimes," said Noel Cunningham.

Noel Cunningham and his wife Tammy established the Cunningham Foundation and are owners of Strings Restaurant in Denver. The Cunningham Foundation and Ethiopia Reads will be collecting books all year long to send to Ethiopia for the existing libraries.

Ethiopia Reads (www.ethiopiareads.org) believes that education is the key to improving the lives of the next generation of Ethiopians, a country filled with children, and that books are the key to fostering a genuine love of learning. They invite all who love children and books to join them in the endeavor.

SOURCE Ethiopia Reads