Summer Reading Adventure: June 12 - Aug. 16, 2024
By Renee Edwards, Administrative Services Division Director
“The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for a newer and richer experience.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt
This summer is about taking chances, pushing yourself to take risks and living life to the fullest! In honor of that, Fairfax County Public Library (FCPL) is encouraging readers of all ages to participate in our 2024 Summer Reading Adventure – Adventure Begins at Your Library.
As in previous years, readers fall into four different age groups: birth-2nd grade, 3rd-6th grade, teens and adults. Depending on the category, participants will have to earn 10 or 15 virtual badges by reading or listening to books, reading for 20 or 30 minutes, completing activities or a combination of all three. Finishers will receive a coupon booklet/sheet from our community sponsors in addition to coupons from the Fairfax County Park Authority.
We may be months away, but now is the time to get ready to start your adventure. Make sure you have a Beanstack account so when pre-registration opens on June 5, you will be ready to go!
What is Beanstack?
Beanstack is the online tool FCPL and many libraries use to present and track reading challenges. It is an easy way to keep track of the books you read. When you create a Beanstack account for yourself or your family, you will be connected to any seasonal library reading programs. When a reading program ends, keep reading! You can continue right on logging your leisure reading and get ready for when the next challenge rolls along.
Want to learn how to use Beanstack? Check out our All About Beanstack page at bit.ly/FCPL_AllAboutBeanstack or send an email to LibLibraryEvents@fairfaxcounty.gov.
Prefer to Track the Classic Way?
While Beanstack is convenient, FCPL knows there are many reasons why someone may want to keep track of their progress another way. For this purpose, the library will be providing paper logs, available both in branch and for print off the library website, beginning the first day of the Adventure, Wednesday, June 12.
Cool Beanstack Features
Languages: You can select your preferred language and all the information – including the reading challenges – will translate into the selected language.
Friends and Leaderboards: Add other readers as friends. Friends can see each other’s reading logs, statistics and challenge histories, and can also compete with each other.
Streaks: See how long you can keep the Adventure going by tracking your daily reading habit. Want to try to read for consecutive 100 days? Beanstack will even send motivating messages to help you meet your goal.