Level Up at Your Library this summer: Sign up, track your reading and activities, and earn beads and prizes through August 19!
Video transcript
[Upbeat Music Playing]
Narrator:
Summer reading is back! Our new program, Level Up at Your Library, starts June 1 and runs through August 19.
Keep track of your reading time and get a bead for every hour—plus bonus beads for every five hours of reading!
Reading isn’t the only way to learn and have fun. We have tons of activities to choose from.
To earn special beads, you can:
- Create art
- Build something new
- Make music
- Do a little science
- Explore the world
Level Up at Your Library is for kids ages 2 to 11. Rising sixth graders—this means you! We have different activities for different age groups.
Starting June 1st, you can pick up a log with all the information at the library. Or, if you want to save a tree, just use the Beanstack app for everything. You can even download the app to your Oak Park public school device!
Everyone, everywhere is welcome to participate. There are summer reading programs here at Oak Park Library for middle schoolers, high schoolers, and adults too.
Challenge your cousin in St. Louis or a friend in Milwaukee to join! The program starts on June 1st, but you can sign up anytime this summer and pick up prizes whenever you’re able to come into the library.
You can read whatever you like:
- Picture books,
- Chapter books,
- Graphic novels,
- Ebooks,
- Magazines—
- You can listen to audiobooks and podcasts, or have someone else read aloud to you.
You could even read to a dog and it would count… But sorry—it doesn’t count if a dog reads to you.
Your book does not have to be in English. It doesn’t have to come from the library. All reading is good reading.
Level Up at Your Library—this summer at Oak Park Public Library.
[Music Fades Out]
How does summer reading work?
1. Sign up June 1 through August 19
Anytime June 1-August 19, you can sign up in person at any library location, via the book bikes, or on the online platform Beanstack.
Available for Apple iOS and Android, the Beanstack Tracker app can be downloaded to any device, including an Oak Park public school device.
Everyone everywhere is welcome to participate, so you can challenge your cousin in Kalamazoo or friend in Fargo to join in the fun.
Need help? Get instructions on how to use Beanstack.
2. Track your reading & activities
What can kids read?
Any kind of reading is good reading! No matter their age, we encourage reading aloud to children, listening to audiobooks or podcasts, reading in any language, and choosing any type of book or magazine, including comics.
- You can read whatever you like—chapter books, graphic novels, the newspaper, ebooks—or listen to audiobooks and podcasts or someone else reading aloud to you.
- You could read to a dog and it would count (but sorry, it doesn’t count if a dog reads to you).
- Your book does not have to be in English. Books do not have to come from the library. All reading is good reading.
- Borrow a Book Bundle! Each librarian-curated kit is based on a popular theme and comes in a pre-packaged clear bag.
- Browse reading lists by age and grade and more title suggestions vetted by Oak Park’s children’s librarians.
What can kids do?
Reading isn’t the only way to learn and have fun—we have a ton of activities to choose from to earn special beads, too. Make art, move your body, listen to music, explore the world, or do a little science!
3. Pick up prizes whenever you’re able to come into the library
Once you start earning prizes, stop into the library to pick them up when it’s convenient for you.
More ways to get the most out of summer reading
Why should my child participate?
Research has shown that kids who read over the summer keep their skills sharp and are better prepared for school in the fall. Recent research adds that kids who choose their own summer reading books lose even fewer skills over the summer.
That makes summer the perfect time to help kids develop their own preferences and explore new and familiar genres at their own pace. When kids love what they read, they’ll love reading—now and in the future.
Special thanks to the Kiwanis Club River Forest-Oak Park for its $500 donation to support summer reading.