All library locations are closed on Friday, October 11th for library staff training.
Who Should Sign Up?
500 Books Before Middle School is a nationwide reading program for elementary school kids in kindergarten to 5th grade. The goal is to complete 500 books before entering 6th grade. It's a big goal, but simply reading or listening to two books a week for five years will put you above the 500 mark!
Why Should I Sign Up?
Participating in reading challenges is a fun way to encourage reading for pleasure with prizes! Challenge yourself to read or listen to any books of your choosing and receive prizes along the way! Most importantly, reading for pleasure helps to grow a child’s vocabulary and aids in comprehension.
Registration is easy! Log in using your Beanstack account and register your child for the challenge. Track progress using your Beanstack Tracker app or online at forsythpl.beanstack.org
If your child participates in other Beanstack reading challenges, books logged during an active challenge like summer reading will count for both challenges. Minutes logged will not count for this challenge.
By reading or listening to two books a week, your child can read 500 books in less than five years! You can read or listen to the same book multiple times and it will count every time. Be sure to log the books, ebooks, or audiobooks your child reads on Beanstack.
Not sure what your child should read next? Our staff is trained to recommend new books for all ages. Our children’s areas are child-friendly spaces and we encourage you and your child to discover new books to read. This is a great space for your child to explore books in a natural way.
Your child will earn a progress button every 100 books, up to 400 books. When your child reaches 500 books, they will earn a 500 Books Before Middle School grand prize. Beanstack will alert you when a prize is waiting for you at your library.
We know that reading 500 books is a big goal, so we will do participation drawings twice a year for children who have read at least 25 books in the previous six months. Each library branch will have their own winner.
Drawings will be held on:
■ April 1 for books logged from October 1–March 31.
■ October 1 for books logged from April 1–September 30.
We would love to get a milestone picture of your child, too. The Library posts 500 Books Before Middle School milestone pictures on social media during the first week of every month.
Follow us @FoCoLibrary to join in the celebration.
