When school lets out for summer, the Williamson County Public Library System
digs into the annual, all-summer event called Summer Reading, and this year we are
venturing to “Unearth A Story” or two.
Summer Reading Programs, also sometimes called Summer Learning Programs, occur
at libraries across the nation to motivate people of all ages to visit the library, uncover
something new, and dig deep into reading. The human brain functions on the “use it or
lose it” principle. When students are out of school for the summer, often they begin to
allow all the learning from their school year to go extinct bit by bit, resulting in a
“summer slide” in learning. However, when students and learners of all ages engage
their brains in reading and other activities even when school is out, anything is
“fossible,” including preventing the loss of hard-earned knowledge.
The WCPLS participates in the Collaborative Summer Library Program through the State of Tennessee with a new theme each year. Previous years have included themes such as “Color Our World” and “Dream Big, Read.” The theme for the summer of 2026 is “Unearth a Story” and WCPLS plans to bring dinosaurs and history galore.
The bones of summer reading at the WCPLS fall into two categories: library activities
program and the library reading challenge. From May 30 to July 31, participants
of all ages are invited to RAWRsome programs and activities occurring across all the
library branches. WCPLS will reach back into the age of dinosaurs with dino story
times, paleontologist visits, magicians, escape rooms and more while other events will
help to dig into family roots and celebrate the 250th year of the USA.
Budding archeologists, explorers, and friends can earn rewards, such as new books, for taking time to exercise their brain and read through the summer. All you have to do is register as a reader starting May 21 and keep track of the amount of time you spend reading. Log the time you or your children read using the library’s reading challenge website or app (Beanstack) and earn rewards as you meet milestones.
Readers can participate as Listeners (ages 0-5), Readers (ages 5-11),
Teens (ages 12-18), or Adults (ages 18 and up) and each category provides an
opportunity to win a grand prize by completing the reading challenge.
The Summer Reading Program at WCPLS is free and accessible to the entire Williamson
County community. Audiobooks, E-books, graphic novels or stone tablets,
it doesn’t matter. They all are dino-mite in our eyes and count towards your reading
total. Even if you are unable to attend any events, you can participate in the reading
challenge from afar and collect your earned rewards any time before August 15.
Help the library get a Rawr-ing start to summer by joining us at your local branch for an
official kick-off event on Saturday, May 30 and be sure to check out the library website
or WCPLS Summer Reading Brochure to learn even more information about
everything happening at your local library this summer.
Summer Reading at WCPLS is made possible with funding from the Williamson County
Public Library Foundation (wilcolibraryfoundation.org). For more information, visit WCPLTN.org