Readers can indulge their inner bookworms while earning prizes during the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s (CML) Summer Reading Challenge, which runs through July 31 at all locations.
Open to participants of all ages who have a CML library card (signing up for one is free), the challenge is divided into four age groups: prereaders (0–4 years old), school-age (5–11 years old), teen readers (12–17 years old), and adults (18 and older).
Those who wish to get involved can sign up at any CML branch or by visiting columbuslibrary.org/summerreading.
Once signed up, patrons can track their progress as they read for 15 minutes a day for 25 days to earn prizes and raffle entries to win even more prizes. Prizes are earned for every five days of reading.
Participants track their reading by using Beanstack, which can be accessed at columbuslibrary.org/summerreading or by downloading the free Beanstack app through the Apple Store or Google Play.
Raffle prizes, which vary by age group, include free books, gift cards and coupons to local restaurants. Grand prizes include Ohio’s CollegeAdvantage 529 Plan awards for under-18 readers and a gift certificate for a Saturday art-class series at Columbus College of Art & Design for teens and adults.
Besides prizes, the challenge prevents younger readers from falling into the “summer slide,” a loss of critical literacy skills that can occur during the months the children are out of school.
Last year, more than 48,000 readers at all 23 branches took part in the challenge, according to CML media specialist Ben Zenitsky, who said this number was up from the previous couple of years, which were impacted by the pandemic.
“In 2019, we had 61,000 participants, so we’re still working back up from pre-COVID numbers, and we hope to keep those numbers going up,” he said.
