200 Books Before Middle School
Join the challenge to read 200 books before your child enters the sixth grade! Habitual reading has an incredible impact on many aspects of a child’s development, including vocabulary, creativity, social skills, and empathy. Learning to read independently is a journey filled with ups and downs, exciting reads and new discoveries. We want to encourage this age group to read consistently to help them grow into lifelong readers.
We invite you to start this program anytime from when your child enters kindergarten to when they begin middle school, or enter sixth grade. For every 50 books read, your child will earn a prize to encourage them to keep reading.
This program is generously sponsored by the Brookline Library Foundation.
Who can participate?
Any child ages 5-11 or entering grades Kindergarten through fifth grade.
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! Learn how to sign up for a free library card.
How does it work?
- Sign up for 200 Books Before Middle School online or at any Brookline Library. Just ask a Youth Services staff member!
- Log the books you read using Beanstack, our online tracker. All types of books count, including ebooks and audiobooks, books you read together as a family, and books you read by yourself! You can re-read books, but we encourage you to limit logging your re-reads to twice per book. This program is self-paced and the length of time it takes to complete will depend on how often you read. It may take a few months or a few years! You can also log your reading with a paper log– just remember to bring it with you to the Library.
- Earn a prize for every 50 books you read! Visit any Brookline Library location to redeem your prizes including bookmarks, stickers, and books. Let a staff member know which prize you’re picking up and they’ll retrieve the corresponding prize for you. You can visit us every time you’ve read 50 books, or wait and pick up multiple prizes at once. Whichever works better for your family!