15 Jun LIBRARIES ROCK!

Peer pressure can be positive, too, so a number of Rock Island community partners are banding together to encourage everyone to read over summer by launching the Rock Town Reads “Show Us Your Book” social media campaign. Summer is an especially important time for students to keep reading and improve their language skills so they can avoid the summer slide. When adults and teens model reading as a cool activity, we can get across the message that reading rocks at any age.

The library is one of several community partners encouraging reading this summer, along with Spring Forward Learning Center, Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center summer enrichment camps, and Rock Island Rotary’s Little Free Libraries. Adds Jerry Jones, Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center Executive Director, “One proven ingredient to be successful and lead a happy, productive life is to be an active reader. Let’s all pick up a book this summer!”

The Rock Town Reads campaign is a great accompaniment to “Libraries Rock” summer reading challenges and events at all Rock Island Public Libraries. The free reading incentive campaign challenges adults, teens, and children of all ages to reach pre-set reading goals. It’s as simple as enter, read and win! All readers win prizes and more chances to win when they meet goals for their age group.

You can sign up for the summer reading challenges at Rock Island Library or use the very handy Beanstack online summer reading program, which now offers a brand new Reading Tracker app. Like a fitness app, it’s an easy, on-the-go way to track your reading progress.

Since you’re reading for the library challenge anyway, “show us your book” with the #RockTownReads hashtag. Post a picture of yourself reading around Rock Island on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, and challenge two friends. If your post is randomly drawn, you could win weekly prizes or the grand prize of Happy Joe’s Pizza for a year. The winner will be announced at the Ready to Rock the School Year on July 29. Rock Town Reads is open to all in Rock Island and Milan.

As further encouragement to rock and roll to the library, you’ll find more than 95 rocking events on the Rock Island Library website and in its newsletter. Free events include a June 21 juggling and unicycle show, Coffee and a Movie mornings for adults on the second Monday of each month, Crafterwork “Make It Here” events for adults, a July 12 Marvel movie night, and multiple history events.

Rock Island Library and Rock Town Reads wants to encourage summer reading for all, develop a love of reading, and show that readers and reading is cool. That’s a message we all want to rock the town this summer!

RockTown Reads is a partnership of Bi-State Literacy, Martin Luther King Jr. Center, Rock Island-Milan School District, Rock Island-Milan Education Foundation, Rock Island Public Library, and Spring Forward Learning Center.

Rock Town Reads campaign:
Open to all Rock Island and Milan residents and businesses
June 1 – July 29, 2018

Read Anywhere!
Summer camps, library, parks, businesses
www.rocktownreads.com