Programming Picks: Give Thanks for Books!

Submitted by Cleo Joyce

Get ready for more reading incentive fun at your branch this Thanksgiving Break! Next Friday, November 19, FCPL will be launching the Thanksgiving Break Reading Fun incentive program we're calling Give Thanks for Books. This challenge will run November 19 through December 1. Registration will open in Beanstack on November 19 and the program will be open to kids and teens ages 0-18. 

Thanksgiving Break Reading Fun will be very similar to Fall Break reading:

• Kids will log books and complete activities using Beanstack
• Kids earn 20 points for every 15 minutes or 1 book they read

• Kids earn 10 points for completing one of the following activities (can be completed multiple times):

• Visiting the library

• Lend a helping hand

• Complete a random act of kindness

• Share a book with someone special

Kids who earn 100 points get a prize! The 100 point prize is a rubber "I Love Reading" bracelet. 

Beginning at 100 points and up to 500 points, kids can earn a ticket into the grand prize drawings for every 100 points they earn. Our grand prizes are:

• Family Fun Basket including Labyrinth, a set of dominoes (tons of family fun for all ages!), and a coupon for a party box of cookies from Crumbl. 
• One winner per branch
• I'm hopeful these baskets will also include pizza coupons from MOD, but I don't have those in hand yet. I'll update this post if we receive them in time. 
• $25 Barnes & Noble Gift Card
• One winner per system 

Please heavily promote this program with our young patrons. It's easy, fun, and the grand prizes are extra yummy!

There is a staff version of the program now live in Beanstack. Please take the time to register, play around, and familiarize yourself with the challenge. The staff version will remain live through Thursday, November 18. 

If you have any questions about Give Thanks for Books: Thanksgiving Break Reading Fun, please talk with Cleo or the YSS at your branch.

A few of you have asked me why we're doing more reading incentive challenges this year--we did Fall Break Reading, will continue to do Winter Break Reading as we have in past years, and will also do a Spring Break challenge. As a library, we want to be encouraging kids to read for pleasure throughout the year and reading incentive programs are a powerful way to accomplish that goal. Offering more challenges throughout the year also keeps our reading challenges on patrons' radars and helps patrons stay familiar with Beanstack. This will help us when it comes to Summer Reading, our biggest incentive program--patrons will be looking for challenges, know how to access them, and be excited to participate. 

I'd love to hear feedback from staff and patrons on the reading incentive programs. I want to be sure they're working for staff and providing beneficial learning opportunities for kids.