Teen Summer Reading

Summer Reading begins Monday, June 2!

Our Summer Reading program encourages you to read throughout the summer while you’re off from school. (Studies show that this will help you when you start school in the fall, PLUS it’s a great time to read whatever you want, for fun!)
We have reading programs for any age; the Teen program is for t[w]eens entering 6th grade through entering 12th grade.
You do not need to have a Park Ridge Library card to participate, but you do need to have an account on Beanstack.
Any type of reading can be logged for the program – audiobooks, books read to you, e-books, e-audiobooks, graphic novels, fiction, nonfiction, magazines, manga – if you can read it, it counts! If you’re not sure where to start to find what you’d like to read, check out the teen page on our website for booklists and other ways to start!
Our mascot this year is a chameleon named Chad.

If you’ve participated in a reading program in the past, you already have an account in Beanstack, so you can check with a staff member to find your login information, or click the links on the login page to reset your information on your own.
If you’ve participated in our reading programs when you were younger, you probably have an account under a parent/caregiver. To start fresh with your own contact information, just make a new Beanstack account. NOTE: School email addresses usually block emails from outside the school. Please use a personal email address.
Please double-check that your contact information is correct – all prize winners will be notified via email.

To log, click “Log Reading and Activities.”
Log each day that you read in Beanstack – any day that you read at least 20 minutes counts as one day! You can log multiple days at once, or as you go, and the days you read don’t have to be in a row.
Complete the program after logging 30 days of reading, but if you want to keep going & earning virtual raffle tickets, you can earn rewards for up to 70 days!
Check out our activity list in Beanstack to earn virtual raffle tickets for attending programs or doing other library-related things.
Bonus: if you log at least one day every two weeks, you’ll be entered into a participation drawing to win a gift card to Rita’s Italian Ice and Frozen Custard.
Make sure you enter your virtual raffle tickets into the prize drawings in Beanstack before August 16!

For every 10 days you log, you’ll earn a virtual raffle ticket as well as for every activity completed. Each virtual raffle ticket also comes with a physical vinyl sticker that you can choose from our sticker stash next time you visit the Teen Loft!
After 30 days of reading logged, you earn a prize book. We’ve got book selections for 6th-7th grade, 7th-9th grade, and 9th grade & up.
If you log at least one day or activity every two weeks, you will automatically be entered into a raffle to win a gift card to Rita’s Italian Ice and Frozen Custard.
Check out our prize catalog and prize poster in the Teen Loft or view our digital version (coming soon).
There are three tiers of prizes, grouped by their value.
Tier 1: you may enter an unlimited number of virtual raffle tickets.
Tier 2: you may enter a limit of 3 virtual raffle tickets.
Tier 3: you may enter a limit of 1 virtual raffle ticket.
Prize winners will be notified only via email; an activity is available to provide a phone number for an additional notification via text.
Summer Reading Prizes are made possible by a generous gift from the Friends of the Library.

June 2: Summer Reading begins
June 16: Drawing for Rita’s gift card
June 30: Drawing for Rita’s gift card
July 1: Day 30 of Summer Reading – first day to earn a prize book!
July 14: Drawing for Rita’s gift card
July 28: Drawing for Rita’s gift card
August 16: Last day of Summer Reading, final drawing for Rita’s gift card, final day to assign virtual raffle tickets for prize drawings
August 18: Prize winners notified; check here for winners!

I will be out of town this summer. Can I still participate?
Yes! You can log your reading online in Beanstack from wherever you are and put your virtual raffle tickets into drawings. As long as you enter your tickets before August 16, you can qualify for a prize.
What if I’m not coming back to town until after August 16?
No problem! You can do everything for the Teen Summer Reading program online, and we will have prize books available for pickup well after the program ends.
I’m going into 6th grade. Should I do the Kids’ program or the Teen?
Entering sixth graders are eligible to participate in both programs as you transition from the Children’s Department up into the Teen Loft!
I have to complete Summer Reading for an assignment for school. How do I do that & how do I show my teachers that I did?
Log 30 days of reading to complete the Summer Reading program.vIn your Beanstack profile, click “Badges.” If you have logged 30 days, you’ll also have a program completion badge.
Can I do 100 Books Before Graduation and Summer Reading at the same time?
Absolutely! You’re just logging different things for each program. For 100 Books Before Graduation, you’re logging individual books by title as you finish reading them; for Summer Reading, you’re logging the days that you read those books.