Above: Morinville Community Library Program Coordinator Jessica Sheppard shows some of the materials that will be used at the Winter Reading Program drop-in craft event on Feb. 7 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Library’s Winter Reading Program is underway and wraps up on Feb. 28. More details are available at MorinvilleLibrary.ca. – Stephen Dafoe Photo
by Stephen Dafoe
The Morinville Community Library’s Winter Reading Program is on for another month until Feb. 28, allowing patrons to log their reading hours and potentially earn prizes. This year’s theme is All About the Wonders of Winter.
The program is simple—pick a book, the Library’s or your own, read, and keep track of how much time you spend reading.
This year’s tracking of reading minutes is going online once again, although non-computer savvy patrons can get some help from library staff. The Library has again partnered with an online system called Beanstack, which specializes in reading challenges.
“It’s important to get kids into a routine, and that is why we use the BeanStack challenges because it incentivizes them and makes them excited to read,” said Morinville Community Library Program Coordinator Jessica Sheppard.
The address to register is MorinvilleLibrary.Beanstack.org. The website allows you to record your minutes spent reading and even has a timer to help you clock the amount of time you have eyes on the page. Patrons can also track which books they read during the program and even leave a review of their thoughts on the same.
“It’s a reading challenge website. We set up all the challenges, and you can register for yourself, and if you have a little [one], you can make a separate account for them where you can control what they’ve read,” Sheppard explained.
The Library offers prizes for the Winter Reading Program in two categories: children’s and combined youth and adult categories. There will be first, second and third top reader prizes awarded.
“You get badges for every certain milestone you reach up to nine hundred minutes,” Sheppard said, adding that each bag is worth one ticket that can be entered towards the prizes. “There are extra challenges that you can do that count towards getting tickets and also the BINGO card. You can get a ticket for reviewing a book and for reviewing two books. And there are a couple of challenges. One is doing winter activities with your loved ones, and another is making sure you take time to relax, sit down and do some self-care.”
The Library will hold a second drop-in activity, painting on tiny canvases, on Feb. 7 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
For more information on the Winter Reading Program, visit the Morinville Community Library at MorinvilleLibrary.ca.
