Davenport launches 'Level Up' summer reading challenge June 1–July 31 with prizes, school outreach and 297 programs

Library staff presented detailed plans for the 2025 summer reading season May 20 and asked trustees to help spread the word about a larger prize structure, outreach to schools and an expanded program schedule.

Lexi Riling, speaking for Youth Services and programming staff, said the program theme is “Level Up at your library,” and that the challenge runs June 1 through July 31. “The biggest change though is that everyone who completes the challenge will get a prize,” she said, describing an 8½-by-11 printable reading log and a game-board layout that requires 30 days of reading to complete.

Staff will continue to promote Beanstack, the digital tracker, but will also support paper logs for families without reliable digital access. Lexi described “quests”—library- or literacy-related activities that count toward completion—and said the quests are tailored for babies/toddlers, kids, teens and adults while remaining structurally similar so families can participate together.

Prizes include tote bags for finishers and age-group grand prizes. Lexi listed examples: for children, an art basket, a fort basket and a return of the personal owl visit; for teens, items chosen by the Teen Advisory Board such as a portable photo printer, a Target gift card, or an “ultimate library shopping haul” with purchases for both the collection and the winner; for adults, a book-lover’s basket, a movie-lover’s basket and an explorer basket with local memberships. Staff said the tote art was designed in-house.

Outreach plans include oversized paper reading logs distributed to day cares and preschools, digital resource sharing with the Davenport Community School District, window decorations at all three buildings, and a new Books on the Blacktop partnership in which the library’s mobile owl will visit elementary school parking lots to register patrons, accept reading logs and circulate books. Lexi said the program should reduce barriers for children who cannot easily travel to library branches during the summer.

The summer schedule will include about 297 programs across the system. The kickoff is set for Saturday, June 7, at the Fairmont branch; that event will include a sensory‑friendly hour, Touch-a-Truck activities and door prizes. Lexi asked trustees to promote the program; preregistration is open now on Beanstack.

Trustees asked procedural questions about prize retrieval for Beanstack participants and whether core collections will travel for Books on the Blacktop; staff confirmed patrons who complete logs in Beanstack can show progress at a branch, and that the mobile service will carry an appropriate core collection for school visits.

Lexi closed by encouraging trustees to sign up and share program information with their communities.