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Summer reading programs at my library shaped a large portion of my personality. Even as an adult, you can almost get me to do anything for free pizza.
But then, I went to college, and then I became a full-fledged adult in the biggest reading slump of my life, and it wasn’t until several years later when I had small children of my own that I thought about library reading programs again. So, I stopped neglecting my library as I had been for years, and with the thought of giving my kids the same summer reading program joy I got as a kid, set out to discover what had become of these programs.
Enter Beanstack.
What is Beanstack?
Beanstack is a new app that many libraries and schools are adopting to host reading challenges, bookathons, and more! Personally, I love it. Here’s why:
- It keeps kids motivated to read.
- Tracking and logging reading is super fast and easy through the app. Plus, I don’t have to keep track of any paper reading logs and challenges that I am almost guaranteed to misplace. It also means it is easy to keep with us during our summer travels.
- If kids are reading together, you can log reading for all of them at once.
- Fun visuals help you easily see how your reading challenge is coming.
- Earn milestone awards for your kids. These are the prizes they are guaranteed to receive when they start the reading program so long as they meet the different milestones or challenges.
- Enter additional raffle prizes. Some libraries also allow you to earn tickets, and these tickets can be used to enter raffles, all through the app. My kids are very excited about these raffles. At my library, prizes range from stuffed animals, toys, books, board games, gift certificates, and more! For adults, there’s a $300 Amazon gift certificate as a grand prize.
- There are community and family-based activities to earn additional prizes or raffle tickets. This reading program is not all about reading, it’s also about having a good summer and learning about what your community has to offer. These activities included things like visiting a park, learning about recycling, borrowing a book on Libby, going on a hike, reading a book from a genre you don’t usually like, etc.
- As long as you have a library card already, you don’t even have to visit the library to get started. Simply download the app and enter your library card number to get started.
The point of these reading challenges is to motivate readers to read more, especially during the summer months when people get busy and reading gets put on the back burner. My kids are young, and I thought I was doing pretty great at reading to them daily. We tend to read at least one or two picture books a night. But, when I started timing our reading sessions for Beanstack, I suddenly realized that even though it felt like a long time, each picture book was maybe three minutes on average. I needed a minimum of 15 minutes of reading a day for my kids to earn the final award, and 30 minutes a day to maximize their raffle tickets. So we’ve definitely bumped up the amount of books we’ve been reading. The library can consider their challenge an official success.
This app may also be used in your children’s schools. But I have no experience with the school programs, so unfortunately I can’t speak to that.
Reading challenges for adults too!
Now, here’s why I’m really excited about Beanstack. They have reading challenges for adults too!
I wasn’t an adult the last time I was participating in summer reading programs, so I’m not positive that they didn’t exist before, but I don’t remember my mother ever participating in them. So imagine my excitement when I signed up, fully expecting to just be able to enter my girls, and discovered there were challenges for me too.
The two libraries near me (because you bet I’m doubling up on the reading programs) both have a year-long reading challenge for adults as well as a summer reading challenge for adults.
The year-long reading challenges are category-based. They challenge you to read a selection of books from varying genres to expand your reading challenges. One of my programs wants you to read 15/15 categories and the second library wants you to read 15/30 for the base prize or 30/30 for a second prize. The categories seem pretty fair and reasonable to accomplish. When I signed up halfway through the year, I was able to get pretty close to 15 books in each program by simply plugging in what I’d already read. There are definitely a couple of genres that will require planning though, especially if I decide to go for the 30-book prize.
The summer reading program was hourly based. One program was 20 hours over the summer and the second was 50. However, the grand prize, a pool party, is rewarded at the ten-hour and twenty-hour mark. You’re just given additional raffle ticket entries for reading to the upper limits. Honestly, this kinda felt like I was stealing. I read A LOT. So I smashed these reading challenges in no time.
However, another aspect of the summer reading challenge that I love is that part of it is activity-focused. They have a variety of activities that can be done to win more prizes and rewards. Many of these activities are community and family-based such as doing your library’s take-home activities with your kids or taking a family hike, visiting a pool, doing a science experiment, recycling, etc. These were a fun way to continue the challenge even once the hours were met.
I can’t guarantee what your library’s reading challenges will look like, as they are highly customized to the library. But, I assume there will be several similarities across all the different programs.
See if your library is participating!
If you’re as motivated by library challenges as I apparently am, download the Beanstack app today to see if a library around you is participating. It was as simple as entering your zipcode or library name. You can get started from the comfort of your home today, and plan a trip to your library later.
Do you participate in summer reading programs? Let us know in the comments below!
Happy reading!
P.S. While you’re signing up for Beanstack, make sure you’re signed up for our FREE and steeply discounted daily ebook deals. We’ve promoted thousands of great books over the years!
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