Oct. 20, 2025 – In September 2024, the library launched a new reading challenge, 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten – and participating pre-K children have read almost 54,000 books since then.
Caregivers track each book they read with their child, from birth until they start kindergarten. A simple way for families and children to build a love of reading together, the program is part of a national effort to help prepare kids for school by building reading habits. It also seeks to encourage caregiver and child bonding through reading.
“1,000 Books Before Kindergarten was started to encourage parents to read with their children before school begins, because literacy development starts at a very young age,” said Programming Manager Kevin Delecki. “It was designed to follow our Growing Readers reading program and complement Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.”…