Botetourt County Libraries know that the 2019-2020 school year was an interesting one to say the least.
“Libraries have tried to help with the ‘Summer Slide’ for decades, but we have noticed a decrease in participation in recent years. COVID-19 threw a wrench in our normal summer plans, but we decided to look at this as an opportunity instead of a disappointment. We have partnered with an on-line tracking system called Beanstack. This platform allows us to create individual as well as group challenges and allows users to track everything they are reading while earning digital badges for encouragement and receiving personalized book recommendations,” Jaime Duval, the branch librarian of the Eagle Rock Library, said.
The libraries say that they are excited to share their Imagine Your Story Challenge with the Botetourt and Roanoke Valley communities. It is not just about reading this year and it’s not just for kids. They have included activities that will promote literacy, family togetherness, creativity, STEM, physical fitness and mental well-being. The incentives this year reflect the same things. They will be giving away five bikes, a kayak, two GoPros, Virtual Reality technology, STEM kits and much more.
The Summer Reading Challenge is now in progress and runs from June 1-July 24.
Contact Jaime Duval with any questions about the program (jduval@botetourtva.gov).
Visit botetourtva.beanstack.org for registration.
