Deputy Director Shelly Alexander: Summer Learning Challenge drew more than 3,000 sign‑ups and boosted engagement

Shelly Alexander, deputy director of the library, presented results from the 2026 Summer Learning Challenge and described substantial increases in participation and engagement. "I am for the record Shelly Alexander, Deputy Director of the library," she said. Alexander reported that the program had "over 3,000 sign ups" and that "we did have more than 1,000 participants who actually completed the challenge as of this morning when I checked." She added that the minute total was more than "1,000,000 minutes read" and cautioned the figures were pulled before the program officially finished and therefore are not final.

Alexander credited the year's design changes for the uptick: a points‑based system, new collectible trading cards, a city scavenger hunt and a simple in‑library ``finding Buddy'' scavenger activity. She said trading cards brought families back week after week and prompted visits to multiple branches; outreach staff attended about 78 public events this summer and registered roughly 160 children through collaboration with city parks-and-recreation summer camps. "The trading cards, I think the kids really viewed them as a prize and an incentive to do reading," Alexander said, and she described examples of community‑generated activity such as two Aliante patrons who invented a card game that staff later filmed for a social media reel.

Board members thanked Alexander for a detailed report and asked about plans for next year; Alexander said staff will debrief in August and already plan to build on the trading‑card idea for September (library‑card sign‑up month) and future seasonal challenges. The presentation emphasized engagement and community partnerships more than raw counts, and Alexander noted some year‑to‑year comparisons were not apples‑to‑apples due to program changes.