The Indianapolis Public Library's 2024 Summer Reading Program Features Animal Friends
The Indianapolis Public Library is partnering with IndyHumane for this year’s pet-themed Summer Reading Program, taking place June 1 through July 31.
The IndyHumane Pet Adoption Wagon will be at select library branches in June and July. The wagon will allow children and parents to meet adoptable pets looking for their forever homes. The Pet Adoption Wagon schedule can be found at indypl.org/calendar and inside our Youth Program Guides available at all Library locations.
“We are excited to partner with IndyHumane for the first time!” said Devery North, school-age and family program specialist at The Indianapolis Public Library. “In addition to the Pet Adoption Wagons, we will have programming such as Paws for a Cause, where kids can make crafts for shelter animals. This partnership is a great way to get kids thinking about ways to serve their community, including our animal friends, while having fun and building their reading skills.”
The Summer Reading Program will continue to encourage children to fetch some great reads over the summer by offering prizes to children for recording time spent reading and completing activities. Reading is a foundational skill to any child’s education. Reading during the summer helps children maintain their reading muscles so they are prepared for school in the fall.
Participants can read any book, graphic novel, magazine, e-book, or newspaper, including books from home or books borrowed from The Library. Use the Beanstack Tracker app or a paper tracker, which can be picked up at any Library location, to track time spent reading, listening to audiobooks, reading aloud to someone, or listening to someone read. Beanstack is available on iOS and Android, or online at our beanstack page.
This year, The Indianapolis Public Library is introducing an Early Literacy Tracker. Families with children ages 0-5 can count any time spent reading, writing, singing, playing, and talking with their child toward their summer reading goal. This new literacy tracker will integrate early literacy practices from the American Library Association's Every Child Ready to Read program.
Prizes are earned at 1 hour, 5 hours, 10 hours, 15 hours, and 20 hours of reading and include snacks, toys, tickets to an Indianapolis Indians game, free pizza from Lou Malnati's Pizzeria, passes to The Children's Museum of Indianapolis haunted house, Eiteljorg Museum passes, and Indiana State Museum and Historic Site passes. All readers who log time will be eligible for grand prizes at the end of summer if The Indianapolis Public Library patrons reach 18 million minutes read alongside the Adult Summer Reading Program.
Throughout the summer, there will be workshops that provide participants with opportunities to connect with peers and explore new interests. Participants can sing and dance with GRAMMY award-winning 123 Andrés, go on wild adventures with Silly Safaris, learn about animal first aid with Vet Adventures, learn how to measure, mark, and use tools safely at our Build It Woodworking Workshops, and more. American Sign Language interpreters will be at some of our summer programs. The dates and times of programs with American Sign Language interpreters will be available in the online calendar and in the youth program guide, which patrons can pick up at any branch location.
Participants make a 'paw'sitive impact on young readers by donating books to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Indianapolis. Drop off donations at any Indianapolis Public Library branch through August 3.
The Summer Reading Program is not just for kids! Adults can join the Adult Summer Reading Program to earn prizes such as a collapsible water bottle and a book-themed sticker for their water bottle, laptop, or e-reader.
Children's programming at The Library is presented by Friends of the Library through gifts to The Indianapolis Public Library Foundation. Major Sponsors include 92.3 WTTS, Everwise Foundation, The Indianapolis Foundation Library Fund, Dr. Sherri Lauver and Dr. Kevin Biglan, Lilly Endowment Inc., Live Nation, Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust, PNC Foundation, Dr. Betty Routledge, Mary Frances Rubly & Jerry Hummer, and G. Marlyne Sexton. Supporting Sponsors include College Choice CD 529 Savings Plan, Citizens Energy Group, Corteva Agriscience, FORVIS, Indianapolis Indians Charities, Nicholas H. Noyes, Jr. Memorial Foundation, Inc., Office of the Lawrence Township Trustee Steve Talley, and OneAmerica®.
Registration starts May 1, and participants can start logging reading time on June 1. Visit our summer reading program page for more details.
Media Contact: Keshia McEntire, Public Relations Manager, kmcentire@indypl.org