Rock Island Library Launches 2021 Winter Reading Challenge with “Curbside Cocoa Kickoff”
Since few things go better with cozy wintertime reading than a hot cup of cocoa, Rock Island Public Library will launch its 2021 Books Like Us Winter Reading Challenge with a Curbside Cocoa Kickoff.
The free drive-through event for all ages is offered from 4:00 to 6:00 pm on Friday, January 8 in the Curbside pickup lane outside the Rock Island Downtown Library, 401 19th Street. Participants can meet library staff, and pick up a free winter reading kit with cocoa, goodies, details about winter reading, and other Rock Island Public Library services. The event is free and no registration is required. Bags are available while supplies last.
Rock Island Public Library is among hundreds of libraries nationwide participating in the annual Beanstack Winter Reading Challenge. The 2021 event is sponsored by Simon & Schuster’s Books Like Us program, which celebrates diversity and the power of finding oneself reflected in a book.
The Rock Island Public Library reading challenge runs from Monday, January 11 through Friday, February 5, and offers reading challenges and rewards for all ages. Rewards are based on meeting age-based reading goals for children, teens, and adults, and the library hopes to reach a community-wide goal of 5,000 minutes of reading overall.
The Books Like Us challenge is an opportunity to explore books from bestselling and diverse Simon and Schuster authors, such as Cozbi Cabrera, Sharon Draper, Stuart Gibbs, Stephen Graham Jones, Hena Khan, Debbie Ohi, Christina Hammonds Reed, and Rebecca Roanhorse. Each of these authors will participate in a virtual event at a library achieving the highest level of participation from their community. Challenge participants may read any books they like during the challenge, and will receive recommendations from Simon & Schuster featured authors, as well as Rock Island librarians.
To enter and participate, log into the library’s free Beanstack subscription, available in mobile app and desktop versions. (A downloadable print form for all ages is also available via the library website.) Beanstack is a product of Zoobean, Inc., which provides products that help people achieve reading goals by tracking reading and participating in reading challenges.
For more details about the Rock Island Public Library Winter Reading Challenge, visit the library website at www.rockislandlibrary.org, call 309-732-READ (7323), or follow the library on social media.
