The Wichita Public Library will celebrate Wichita’s 150th birthday with the Summer Reading Program, “150 Years of Stories,” beginning Friday, May 1. This annual program for youth regularly enrolls more than 10,000 children and teens who commit to reading during the summer months.
This year, the Summer Reading Program will begin a month early to give children and teens participating in distance learning at home the opportunity to get a jumpstart on their reading progress.
Designed to combat the “Summer Slide,” where children and teens experience a learning loss over the summer months away from school, the Summer Reading Program keeps young minds active by encouraging a reading goal. This year, the goal is 1,000 total minutes. Prizes will be awarded at different reading benchmarks. Participants who want to go above and beyond can read an additional 500 minutes to be entered into a special prize drawing.
Registration begins Friday, May 1 and will continue through Thursday, July 23.
The program will be offered in a digital format through Beanstack, the Library’s reading tracking app. Informational videos for using Beanstack are available on the Library’s website and YouTube channels. PDF tracking sheets are also available for download.
The Summer Reading Program is designed for ages 0-2 (Baby Bookworms) and ages 3-17 (Kids and Teens Read). Several Library-sponsored events are scheduled throughout the summer to coincide with the program at all Library locations across Wichita. All events are free.
The benefits of the Summer Reading Program include motivating children to read during the summer months, developing a positive attitude towards reading, books and the Library, and getting access to experiences that enhance discovery and creativity.
More information can be found at wichitalibrary.org/summerreading.
Wichita Public Library provides collections and services that inform, entertain and enrich the quality of life in Wichita. For more information, please visit wichitalibrary.org.