
Read For Your School Contest and Summer Kickoff Event
Friends’ support is especially evident during the summer, starting with the Summer Reading Program Kick-Off event on May 30, 2020. Children leave the event revved up for reading and registered to participate in the Read for Your School Contest.
The Read for Your School Contest was introduced in 2014. Currently, Friends allocates $5,000 annually to the contest to achieve these goals:
A “bead jar” is displayed in the Bartlett Library for each school. As students report their reading achievements or participate in a learning activity at the Library they receive beads to deposit into their school’s bead jar. At the end of the summer, the beads are counted and a proportionate share of the $5,000 is distributed to each school library. Typically, 600-750 children participate in the contest each year collecting an average of 12,000 beads.
Everyone loves the kick-off event and the contest. Children are motivated, school librarians are appreciative, the Bartlett Library is bevy of activity all summer long, and Friends are pleased and proud to support such a meaningful program for our community.
2019 Final Counts
Friends’ support is especially evident during the summer, starting with the Summer Reading Program Kick-Off event on May 30, 2020. Children leave the event revved up for reading and registered to participate in the Read for Your School Contest.
The Read for Your School Contest was introduced in 2014. Currently, Friends allocates $5,000 annually to the contest to achieve these goals:
- Encourage children to continue reading and learning, thus maintaining essential skills during the summer break
- Maximize utilization of the Bartlett Library’s resources by the community
- Enhance Bartlett City Schools libraries with additional financial support
- Foster interaction between the school libraries and the Bartlett Public Library
A “bead jar” is displayed in the Bartlett Library for each school. As students report their reading achievements or participate in a learning activity at the Library they receive beads to deposit into their school’s bead jar. At the end of the summer, the beads are counted and a proportionate share of the $5,000 is distributed to each school library. Typically, 600-750 children participate in the contest each year collecting an average of 12,000 beads.
Everyone loves the kick-off event and the contest. Children are motivated, school librarians are appreciative, the Bartlett Library is bevy of activity all summer long, and Friends are pleased and proud to support such a meaningful program for our community.
2019 Final Counts