Riley and Chico, two llamas from local nonprofit rescue Llamas del Sol, were the stars of the show at Esther Bone Memorial Library Thursday as part of Rio Rancho Public Libraries Summer Reading program.

Lynda Liptak, the founder of Llamas del Sol, brought the two llamas from the rescue to teach the large crowd about the work Llamas del Sol does, and of course, to see the llamas.

Approximately 300 people gathered in the backyard of the library to learn about , take pictures with and feed the llamas.

Liptak founded Llamas del Sol in February 2009 when she learned of an abandoned farm in southern Colorado that had two young llamas in need of a home. Liptak did not know anything about llamas then but decided to see if she could settle them down from their wild state and ready them for a happy adoption with another llama farm.

It was not long before Dalai and Daisy were halter-trained and going for walks along the Bosque and were an integral part of Liptak’s family. Now Llamas del Sol supports Southwest Llama Rescue and coordinates rescues and adoptions for the betterment of llamas and enjoyment of people.

“We have 15 llamas right now that we are ready to re-home,” Liptak said. “And we have seven or eight that we can’t bear to part with.”