1,000 Books Before Kindergarten
Our 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program provides endless opportunities for your child to grow as a reader.
This self-paced program has one goal: Read 1,000 books with your child before they enter kindergarten. Habitual reading has an incredible impact on many aspects of a child’s development, including vocabulary, creativity, social skills, and empathy. Reading together is a fun way to strengthen the parent-child relationship and set children up for success as lifelong readers.
We invite you to start this program anytime from when your baby is a newborn to right before your child enters kindergarten. For every 100 books read, your child will earn a small prize to encourage them to keep reading.
This program is generously sponsored by the Brookline Library Foundation.
Who can participate?
Any baby, toddler, or child is eligible to participate until they enter kindergarten.
You do not need a Minuteman library card for this program, but we recommend one in order to have access to all of our materials and resources. It only takes a minute to make one! You can sign up for a library card online or give us a call at 617-730-2370 ext. 3.
How does it work?
- Sign up for 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten online or at any Brookline Library. If you have already been participating in the older version of this program, give us a call at 617-730-2340 and we can help you get settled with the new process.
- Log the books you read using Beanstack, our online tracker, or paper logs available at the Library. All types of books count, including ebooks and audiobooks, books you read together as a family, and books you re-read every day! You can log duplicate books and multiple books per day. This program is self-paced and will depend on how often you read together. It may take a few months or a few years.
- Earn a prize for every 100 books you read! Visit any Brookline Library location to redeem your your reads for prizes including stickers, coloring kits, and books. Bring your paper prize tracker or open Beanstack on your device when you visit the Library and a staff member will retrieve the corresponding prize for you. You can visit us every time you’ve read 100 books, or wait and pick up multiple prizes at once. Whichever works better for your family!