It’s fall break for Knox County Schools and the perfect time to pop into a library to sign up for the final leg of the Read City 2024 challenge. This time around, the theme is “Build Your Own Adventure.” This challenge is about exploring new ideas, trying new resources, learning new skills, discovering new stories, crafting new dreams and imagining new adventures. All it takes is a library card!
To join the challenge, drop by any library location to pick up a gameboard or register in Beanstack. The quest involves literary missions, creativity, attending programs and, of course, reading. Every five missions completed earns a trip to the loot box!
We kicked off the year with Read Life Adventure as we met renowned explorers from the frontier days to the present. Davy Crockett, Amelia Earhart, Jacques Cousteau, Matthew Henson, Neil Armstrong and Sophia Danenburg have explored everything from the ocean floor to the North Pole, the highest mountains to the sky and beyond. This summer, we went epic with fantasy and science fiction. Now, we are building our own personal adventures.
The Read City challenge is the brainchild of Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs who started the program as a way to encourage students, families, communities and businesses to make reading a priority and to support Knox County Schools in raising the third grade reading rate.
This year’s program shifted from logging reading hours to completing literary missions. Based on a gaming model, participants were asked to complete missions such as reading under the covers with a flashlight or visiting a Storybook Trail. So far, we have completed over 110,000 missions. Learn more about the impact of the program with thousands of kids and teens participating.
Mary Pom Claiborne is assistant director for marketing, communications and development for Knox County Public Library.
