Winter Reading Book Bingo has begun! Readers of all ages may choose a bingo card and read titles to participate.
You may have participated in our Winter Reading Challenge previously wherein you had to read 20 minutes of any title to participate. This year, we're changing it up with designated titles centered on Illinois book awards or other specific interests. These include:
- 0-5 (Selected from award and recommended books lists)
- K-3rd grade: Monarch Award books
- 3rd-5th grade: Bluestem Award books
- 4th-8th grade: Caudill Award books
- Teens: Lincoln Award books
- Adults (Selected from award and recommended books lists)
Each level has a different set of titles as well as reading activities to help you get that bingo. The program runs from December 1, 2023 - February 29, 2024. Sign up on Beanstack or, if you're not comfortable digitally, ask our wonderful library staff to complete this step for you. You need to read four books to finish the program (and / or complete an activity in some cases). To determine which titles to read, either download a digital copy or pick up a print copy for the level YOU ARE MOST INTERESTED IN READING. Are you an adult who's more interested in reading middle grade titles? No problem: Check out the Bluestem or Caudill Award sheets. Know you'll be reading to your little one but won't have time for the adult program? Select the 0-5 bingo card.
You'll earn tickets for prize drawings along the way with each title read or activity finished. And once you get a bingo, you'll receive a completion prize, too!
Here are the answers to some Frequently Asked Questions:
Where do I get the bingo sheets / figure out what bingo I want to complete?
Look on our website under Events then Reading Challenges here. If you scroll down to the Winter Reading Challenge, you'll see linked lists for each of the bingo cards listed above. Click on these to see details.
How do I log my titles?
Either use a paper sheet or go into Beanstack under Winter Reading 2024, then Activities. Once you've finished a particular book, click on that Activity. Scroll down past the title you read to a section that says "Activities." Click the circle next to "Read <name of title and author.>" Once you do so, the activity will list as 'completed' and will show you the number of tickets that title is worth.
I don't want to use Beanstack. Can I still participate?
Certainly. Just stop by our check-out desk or call so that one of our great NPL staff members can get you signed up online. Pick up a bingo sheet for whichever level of books you want to read. As you finish the books or activities, mark them off. When you've got a bingo, bring in your sheet so we may enter your titles & activities.
What if I've read one of the titles previously?
You can still count it. Follow the instructions above for logging titles, enter each title you've read, and you're set.
What if a book I need for a bingo isn't on the shelf?
You can request the title as a loan from another library. If you're not comfortable doing this through the catalog yourself, call or stop in so one of our wonderful staff can place the hold for you. You'll be notified when the item is ready for pickup.
What if I want to complete more than one bingo sheet?
Feel free to do so - but one sheet at a time is best. :)
Any more questions? Call the library at 309-452-1757 to request more information. Whether you're tall or small, young or eternally youthful, challenge yourself with Winter Reading Bingo at NPL!
This Winter Reading Challenge is brought to you by the Normal Public Library Foundation, whose mission is to take our library services from normal to extraordinary. Many thanks also to sponsor Crabtree Financial LLC and their clients, whose enthusiastic support has also made this program possible.