A Summer Reading Progress bar showing 1,000,000 minutes.

1,102,067! That’s how many minutes you read as part of the Library’s 2020 Summer Reading Games, which went digital this year. 1,574 participants (815 kids, 178 teens, and 581 adults) completed challenges, reviewed books, and logged their minutes read.

The Summer Reading Games couldn’t happen without the support of the Friends of the Monroe County Public Library! Not only did the Friends sponsor the annual summer reading program, they pledged to donate $2,000 to Hoosier Hills Food Bank if the Library’s community-wide reading goal of 200,000 minutes was met. 

The goal was met less than two weeks into the games and the check was presented to the food bank!

The president of the Friends of the Library Board presents a check for a check to representatives from the Hoosier Hills Food Bank.

Because the initial goal was achieved so quickly, the stakes were raised with a stretch goal of 1 million minutes! Should the new goal be met, some individual Library staff pledged donations to the following local organizations totaling $1,525. 

  • Shalom Community Center
  • Hotels 4 Homeless
  • Middle Way House
  • Banneker Community Center
  • Stages Bloomington
  • Friends of the Library

Monroe County readers responded, surpassing 1 million minutes on July 27, with just four days to go! 

Readers earned badges and tickets towards prize drawings for the minutes they read and the challenges they completed. Prizes included LaunchPad tablets, headphones, Kindle Fire tablets, gift cards to local business, and more. Winners are being notified now! 

Throughout the summer, additional monetary donations served as benchmark prizes within the games, benefiting Shalom Community Center, Youth Services Bureau, and Stepping Stones. Hundreds of books were also donated to local Little Free Libraries and to area daycares and camp groups, including The Nest, the daycare at New Hope for Families

While in-person events weren’t possible this summer, Library staff hosted dozens of virtual programs through YouTube and Zoom. The three most popular programs were Sam Tries: Origami, Painting Weatherproof Pots, and Yummy Food: Virtual Storytime! These programs, and many more, can be viewed anytime on the Library’s YouTube Channel.

Although the 2020 Summer Reading Games looked different than previous years, you took the changes in stride and embraced the online challenge, continuing the summer reading tradition and allowing the Library to support local organizations in need! Congratulations!