Library’s Summer Reading Program a Huge Success

Every summer the Boyle County Public Library provides the community with an exciting Summer Reading Program, complete with reading prizes, fun activities, and special events. This year the program was held at the library and at off-site locations while continuing to utilize the Beanstack website and app to track reading progress.

Through Beanstack participants could earn virtual badges, free books, and raffle tickets for prize bundles. Every participant who completed the reading challenge earned a free prize book and had a chance to win one of the prize bundles, which included a doll house, a plane ride, LEGO sets, an electric scooter, a Nintendo Switch Lite, an instant camera bundle, a 3-D printer, an air fryer, and a giant plush horse. The Beanstack app encouraged families to participate together, and provided an easy way to log reading progress and register to win prizes.

The theme for the summer was “Adventure Begins at Your Library,” and the library was decked out in adventure-themed décor. The eight-week program surpassed the previous year’s reading participation making it the most successful summer reading program the library has ever hosted. During the summer, 389 people registered for library cards, and over 1,200 people used Beanstack for the program. Of those who registered, 979 active readers completed the reading challenge set by the library. This year the reading challenge for all ages was to read for 12 days, allowing each participant the opportunity to complete the challenge up to five times during the summer reading program.

The number of days read over the summer was 49,766 collectively. Each time a person completed the reading challenge, they earned a prize book. In total, the library gave away 2,953 new books to readers of all ages during the program this summer.

“The reading challenge offers a way for students to read for fun outside of school and their adults to read with them,” said Youth Services Manager Kinsey Hisle. “Our two largest populations of growth are actually high schoolers and adults! Our reading challenge is intentionally set up to promote the habit of reading by asking people to track their days spent reading, and is accessible for the entire family or friend group to participate together,” said Hisle.

The Summer Reading Program began with a kick-off party that featured an evening of fun and games, food trucks, and inflatables. That day over 1,140 people stopped by to pick up a book bag, play games, sign up for a library card, learn about the summer events, and visit with community vendors.

This summer, 20,779 patrons visited the library to pick up materials, utilize resources, and attend programs or special events. Over the course of the summer, the library hosted numerous free events, including Sound Explorers, Madcap Puppets, Freddy Fossil, a petting zoo, karate and yoga lessons, STEM and crafting activities, live animal events, and outdoor movie nights.

“The Summer Reading Program is a jewel of our community because it provides not only encouragement for reading but also over a hundred free programs for our patrons,” said Hisle. “Not only do Boyle County citizens benefit, but it brings together people from surrounding counties and more as families travel for work, fun, and family, stopping here to enjoy our free library services along the way.”

Evening and weekend events were held at the library, including Starlight Movie Nights, a family-friendly outdoor movie series that included pre-show games and free popcorn. Special Thursday FunDay performances were held weekly at Gravely Hall Performing Arts Center at Danville High School in June, and Boyle County Performing Arts Center at Boyle County Middle School in July. These larger venues allowed for more people to attend library-sponsored events. In addition, ASL interpretation was offered at all of the Thursday morning performances.

Adult Services Manager Christina Farrell shared her thoughts on why Summer Reading is so important. “This program helps bring our community together. People that might not normally interact are coming together and meeting at our library,” said Farrell. She explained that Summer Reading brings more people into the library, and that the staff is able to share all that the library has to offer with them. “I love that I get to show our community that Summer Reading is for everyone,” said Farrell.

Library staff recognize that while not everyone can make it to the library to check out materials, it shouldn’t stop them from participating. During the summer, the library’s outreach team brought the Bookmobile to various events in the community, including the Thursday FunDay performances. They also added special pop-up storytimes, including one at the Danville-Boyle County Airport. Outreach had 838 people visit the Bookmobile in June and July, and had 1,071 books borrowed from Sweet Reads, a collection that allows patrons to borrow materials without a library card.  With expanded borrowing options available through this collection, many new patrons were able to utilize the Bookmobile and participate in Summer Reading. By the end of the summer, the Outreach Department had given out 86 prize books and hosted a total of 50 events.

“The Summer Reading Program is a great opportunity to increase patron engagement during a time that’s a little less busy for many people,” said Outreach Services Manager Daniel Aken. “It also gives us a chance to bridge the gap between school years in order to keep students reading. We are able to get out to places that we don’t have access to the rest of the year, such as the storytime we did at the airport and our bookmobile stops at the splash pads. This increased exposure has led to us getting recognized by the same people at multiple locations, which keeps the library on the minds of those in our community.”

The Summer Reading Program is the library’s biggest multi-generational program series of the year. The library staff are very thankful for the Friends of the Library (FOTL) who are major financial contributors to the Summer Reading Program, and who helped turn program planning dreams into reality while providing countless hours of volunteer work. The library would like to thank program sponsors Friends of the Library and Danville-Boyle County Airport, and program partners Danville-Boyle County Parks & Recreation, Danville Schools – Gravely Hall Performing Arts Center, Boyle County Schools – Boyle County Performing Arts Center, Opening Act, Danville Children’s Choir, Scarlet Cup Theater, Pioneer Playhouse, No Man’s Land Tattoos, Yoshukai Karate, Wilderness Yoga Shala, the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife, and University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service for their generous support.

The library is accessible year-round, and is committed to providing free, high-quality programs, materials, services, and online resources to the community. Library staff will continue to promote literacy through visits to schools and daycares, public bookmobile stops, and participation at community events. Now that summer is over and the school year has begun, librarians are gearing up for Library Card Sign-up Month in September and are in the process of planning fall programs and activities for library patrons.

Information about library resources and all upcoming events can be found online at BoylePubLib.org.

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