2025 Library Summer Challenge: Color Our World

Registration opens May 1! Challenge runs June 1 - July 31!

Discover our colorful world with Jefferson County Public Library's Summer Challenge, where learning is for everyone! Explore the beauty all around you to earn points and win prizes during the Library Summer Challenge.

Register starting May 1 to discover your inner artist, brighten up your community, write colorful stories and embrace a vibrant life!

How it Works

Learn the ins and outs of our Library Summer Challenge! Questions? Contact us at 303-235-5275 or explore our FAQs.

Register to Read and Achieve

With activities for all ages and interests, everyone can participate in the Library Summer Challenge! Register yourself and your family today, then start logging your activities and reading on June 1!

If you participated in last year's challenge, sign in with your Beanstack account.

If this is your first time participating in the Summer Challenge, create a new account by visiting the Beanstack website, downloading the app, visiting any full-service JCPL location or calling 303-235-5275.

Download the Beanstack Mobile App

The Beanstack mobile tracker app makes it easy to log your reading and activities!

  • Search for "Beanstack" in the app store on your device and install it.
  • Find Jefferson County Public Library.
  • Sign in or sign up for an account.
  • Use the reading timer to track your reading minutes. Make sure to mark which fun activities you've done, too!

Trouble logging in? Our FAQs can help you navigate signing into your account.

, opens a new window, opens a new window

Artistic graphic of a boy with pens, brushes, paint rollers and crayons bursting from his imagination.Log Activities or Reading Sessions

Complete repeatable activities or record reading sessions June 1 through July 31 via Beanstack or by paper tracker.

  • 1 activity = 25 points
  • 1 minute of reading = 1 point
  • 500 points = Finisher Prize
  • Every 500 points logged after your first 500 = entry into the Grand Prize Drawing

Keep logging activities and reading sessions all summer long! All activities are repeatable, and you'll earn fun badges and prizes along the way.

Log your points to unlock entries into the Grand Prize Drawing and to help your school and community!

The last day to record your points for the Summer Challenge is August 15.

Earn Amazing Prizes

Great prizes are available for every age group when you accept the Summer Challenge!

  • Registration prize: Earning this prize is easy. Simply register, then visit any full-service JCPL location starting June 1 to claim your prize!
  • Finisher prize: Earn 500 points by completing repeatable activities or recording reading sessions.
  • Grand Prize Drawing: Every 500 points earned after completing the challenge enters you into a drawing for this year's Grand Prize!
  • New this year: Adult participants who continue to log their reading and activities each week will be entered into weekly drawings. The winners will be selected at random and will receive complimentary vouchers for various experiences from local businesses.

Prizes vary by age and cannot be exchanged after being claimed. Learn more about prizes and sponsors.

Read for a Cause

Your Library Summer Challenge registration helps our Jefferson County Community grow!

This year, Jefferson County Library Foundation, opens a new window is upping its game and keeping our community vibrant by donating to multiple diverse organizations right here in Jeffco.

Once you register for the challenge, visit any full-service JCPL location and cast your vote for either The Action Center, The Center on Colfax or Family Tree. In August, we'll tally your votes and JCLF will award each organization a donation based on your preferences.

  • First Place: $500
  • Second Place: $300
  • Third Place: $200

Summer Challenge Community Organizations

Color Our World Reading and Activities

Make this summer the most colorful one yet with these related reads and activities for all ages!

Babies (0 - 2)

Single Button Module

Events for Babies

Staff Picks: Babies (0 -2)

Summer Challenge 2025: An Artful Start

Start tapping into your creativity and unleash your inner artist with these titles and register for the Library Summer Challenge today!

Colorful Reading

What's YOUR favorite color? Chances are we have books celebrating it. Go BIG: read the whole rainbow and beyond!

Colors

Brighten your world with these books exploring colors all around!

Kids (3 - 11)

Staff Picks: Kids (3 -11)

Summer Challenge 2025: An Artful Start

Start tapping into your creativity and unleash your inner artist with these titles and register for the Library Summer Challenge today!

Colorful Reading

What's YOUR favorite color? Chances are we have books celebrating it. Go BIG: read the whole rainbow and beyond!

Kids Create!

Cooking, crafting, building, coding, drawing, writing, singing and more are all ways to create! Find ideas to tackle a new weekday project!

Teens (12 - 18)

Staff Picks: Teens (12 - 18)

Art Smarts

JCPL has a plethora of resources to elevate your appreciation for art and further your skills!

Painting and Drawing for Teens

Create a painting or drawing from your wildest imagination!

Arts and Crafts!

Release your inner artist with a new hobby this summer!

Adults (19+)

Single Button Module

Events for Adults

Staff Picks: Adults 19+

Coffee Table Books

Spanning the natural world, art world, history, culture and the future, these immersive books have one thing in common: they're gorgeous.

Watercolors

Pick up your paintbrushes and try something new with these books and resources on the medium.

Art World Heists and Crimes

Fascinating tales of greed, obsession and tragedy surround these famous and imagined works of art.

Teen Writing Contest

Teen Writing Contest

Teen Writing Contest – Color Our World!

Color our world by creating one of your own with the Teen Writing Challenge. You might even win an iPad! Entries accepted June 1 - July 31.

Submissions for the Indie Author Project Are Now Open!

Calling all genre writers, the IAP is back with an exciting, genre-focused format designed to spotlight the best in independent publishing.

FAQs and More

FAQs

  • Beanstack, the system we use for Summer Challenge tracking allows you to use the same account year after year. We all know how difficult it is to remember which email we used, what our password is or whether we created an account at all, but we strongly encourage you to try to find your existing account instead of creating a duplicate account. Here are the options we suggest:

    1. Try logging in. Enter your email and password here. Any luck?
    2. Try "Forgot Your Password?" Enter your email address here.
      • A red error message means you did not register last year with that email address. Try another email address if you have one, or move on to step #3.
      • A green bar means you can check your email for password reset instructions and continue.
    3. We would be happy to look you up on the staff side of the software. Just call 303-235-5275 or email ask@jeffcolibrary.org.
    4. Is this your first time participating in the Summer Challenge? You can register for the first time here.

    Once you are logged back into the Summer Challenge system, you will be asked to update each "Reader Profile" (member of your family) and prompted to enroll in this year's Library Summer Challenge programs.

    Let us know if you have questions. 

  • Yes, we do! In the app store on your device, search for and install the "Beanstack tracker" app. If you already registered on a computer, just sign in and start logging. Or select Sign Up and get the whole family registered.

    When you are ready to begin logging, tap the plus sign.

    • To log reading minutes, select Reading, then select a Reader, and then select a logging method for reading (Log Without a Title is the quickest).
    • To log an activity, select Activity, then select a Reader, tap on Activities and Challenges, and then tap on the green plus sign next to the activity that you accomplished.

    Your logging will be tracked whether you use the website or the app.

    Get Beanstack App in Play Store, opens an external site

    Android Tutorial, opens a new window | Apple Tutorial, opens a new window

  • Children ages 0 - 5 are eligible for our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program, and children ages 5 - 12 are eligible for our 500 Books Before Middle School in addition to the Library Summer Challenge. All three programs are run in Beanstack. Be sure to count any reading you do with your children in their respective programs!

  • After you log into your account, click on the box in the top right with your name on it, and you will see an option to Add a Reader.

  • Click Sign In and click on Forgot Your Password. The system will send an email to you with instructions for resetting your password.

Learn How: Beanstack

Learn How: Beanstack

Learn how to track your reading process on Beanstack with help from Niche Academy.

Getting Started

Get a library card and access all of the great online resources JCPL has to offer.

Single Button Module

Learn More
Back to Top