Summer Reading Challenge: Greener Initiatives
Montgomery County Public Libraries
Innovation Synopsis
The Montgomery County Public Libraries’ Summer Reading Challenge allows kids and teens to fill their summer with great books and fun activities. By participating in the Summer Reading Challenge, kids and teens complete reading benchmarks and in return donations are made toward local non-profits on their behalf. This model reduces waste by eliminating small plastic prizes and inspires youth to read towards communal goals in order to give back to the community while they socialize, play, and learn all summer long.
Challenge/Opportunity
In 2022, in the wake of pandemic closures, MCPL saw an opportunity to rethink the format of our Summer Reading Program. We envisioned a model for ages 0-17 that would align with the county’s Climate Action Plan as well as with the County Executive's Priority Outcomes & Headline Measure of a Greener County which emphasizes minimizing our footprint through the reduction of waste.
- In 2022, 2023 and now 2024, MCPL eliminated traditional incentives by teaming up with local non-profits.
- By redirecting funding usually spent on small plastic prizes, the library system is instead able to feed those funds into local non-profits to benefit of our community.
- Instead of earning small prizes, readers work towards communal goals to make tangible, positive impacts in their community.
- They also learn about the animals, people, and environments they are helping, while earning eco-friendly e-badges, free books, informational bookmarks or cards, and opportunities for experiences.
Key Elements of Innovation
Participants earn a free book at sign-up & three sequential e-badges, throughout summer. To earn a badge, a child reads or completes learning activities & tracks progress online. For earned badges, the Friends of the Library, Montgomery County (FOLMC) make donations on the child's behalf to a chosen non-profit, who uses that donation to better the community. Participants earn bookmarks or cards about the non-profit and the work they do.
Participants also have opportunities to earn experiences. MCPL works with the Washington Nationals to provide baseball tickets at the end of Badge 2. Our FOLMC provide vouchers to local bookstores, where kids choose a free book upon completing the program. There are raffles for experiences to local museums, science centers & community theaters.
Non-profits have included: Chesapeake Bay Foundation; Montgomery Parks Foundation; MC Animals Services & Adoption Center; FMCA, Mana Food Center.
We work closely with MCPS to promote in public schools.
Achieved Outcomes
Families embraced the new model, introduced in 2022, resulting in record participation. The system's measurable goal was to surpass pre-pandemic 2019 enrollment, which we achieved by nearly 1800 participants.
In 2023, registration increased again by almost 1200, and we have already surpassed 2023 numbers in 2024.
2022 enrollment was the highest it’s been in almost a decade.
There was substantial cost savings by eliminating plastic prizes.
Program participation steadily increased, which can be partially attributed to the rise in Summer Reading participation. Anecdotal feedback from participants & staff, showed that kids were more motivated to read over the summer.
As a result of the 2023 program, our community was able to provide 300 families with more than 800 meals, install 460 solar panels in local parks, and help many long-term animal shelter residents find their forever homes.
In 2024 we provided 25,000 gameboards to MCPS schools to be used in low-equity areas to prevent summer slide.
