The Rock Island Public Library wants at least 100 children and teens to read 300 minutes this January, and you can help the community reach that 30,000 minute reading goal.
Their Winter Reading Challenge asks children and teens to read 300 minutes (five hours) by January 31, 2019. Print, eBooks, and audiobooks all count. Reading logs are available for children in pre-Kindergarten to 6th grades and teens ages 12 to 18. Minutes read to the child, at school, and at home since January 1 all qualify toward the total. Prizes are awarded at the 150 minute half-way point, and at the conclusion. Children earn a craft kit and a free book, and teens earn a prize book and either a Funko Pop! figure or a second prize book.
To help participants pick up some minutes for their challenge, or get registered, the Rock Island Library and the Quad City Botanical Center are partnering to offer "Books on the Beach," from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm on Saturday, Jan. 19, at the Botanical Center. The free family "read-in" offers story times at 11:30 am, 12:15 pm, and 1:00 pm; a self-directed "family reading corner" with a selection of books from the library, beach ball craft, minute-to-win it game, play time areas, STEM activity, Sun Garden scavenger hunt, and digging for treasure in the Botanical Center sand pile. Admission is free during the event. (Remember to count the stories you hear towards your reading total!)
Participants in the Rock Island challenge can use either a paper reading log or Beanstack, a free web and mobile reading tracking application, to track their reading progress. Rock Island is joining with 250 other libraries in the Second Annual Beanstack Winter Reading Challenge, which aims to reach five 5 million minutes of reading nationwide during January.
Participating in library reading challenges helps promote self-directed reading time and build a culture of reading in school and at home. Beanstack software makes it easy for students and families to track reading and stay motivated, but paper is still available for families who prefer a traditional reading log. Rock Island also uses Beanstack to provide a digital option for its 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten year-round reading challenge.
"Research shows that reading just 15 minutes a day really adds up to greater skills and success in school. We want all children to be reading at grade level, and that's why we want to inspire families to read more. Now's the time to reinforce those resolutions and pick up a book," says Susan Foster, Rock Island Library Children's Services.