Jefferson County rocked the books this summer by reading more than 48 million minutes as part of Jefferson County Public Library’s (JCPL) Summer Reading program.
Nearly 45,000 residents participated in this year’s reading challenge, up from 43,000 in 2017, and read a collective 49,514,313 minutes, up from 37,080,546 last year. Thanks to Jeffco residents, who exceeded the goal, Foothills Animal Shelter will receive $500, compliments of the Jefferson County Library Foundation.
“We’re beyond excited to see our Summer Reading program continue to break records year after year,” said Pam Nissler, executive director, JCPL. “Summer Reading helps us create a community of readers in Jefferson County while helping kids maintain grade-level proficiencies over the summer.”
Jeffco readers not only improved their reading skills, they also earned prizes. Kids and teens earned a free or a buy one-get one Chipotle meal, a free book, and tickets to Elitch Gardens and Lakeside Amusement Park. Adult participants earned a chance to win a random prize drawing of movie tickets for a year. Parents of young children were entered into a portrait prize package drawing.
The Library’s Summer Reading program also included special school incentives, thanks to contributions from the Library Board of Trustees and the Jefferson County Library Foundation. Participating Jeffco schools competed for five $800 prizes to support their school library or a literacy program in their school.
Five schools – one in each pre-defined category – won an $800 prize for having the highest percentage of program finishers, compared to their enrollments.
The winners are:
- Foothills Preschool;
- Dennison Elementary;
- Bell Middle School;
- Green Mountain High School; and
- Addenbrooke Classical Academy – special/option charter
Summer Reading 2018 fun facts:
- 4,204 babies “read” 2,113,185 minutes
- 18,549 children read 14,358,843 minutes
- 7,245 teens read 8,640,396 minutes
- 14,930 adults read 24,401,889 minutes
- 52% of registered readers finished the program (minimum of 16 hours of reading for teens/adults; 8 hours for kids and babies)
Special thanks to the following 2018 Summer Reading partners and sponsors: Chipotle, FirstBank, Edward Madigan Foundation, Elitch Gardens Theme and Water Park, Jefferson County Library Foundation, Kinder Morgan Foundation, Lakeside Amusement Park, and the Melvin & Elaine Wolf Foundation.
