BROKEN BOW— In a year like no other, the Broken Bow Public Library faced a number of challenges when it came to how to hold a summer reading program. Due to COVID-19 the library staff decided that the “Imagine Your Story” program would be virtual due to the library being closed to the public. The change prompted the library to move to the Reader Zone system which allowed those who participated to enter their times online.
While the numbers of participants were lower, the library was still pleased with the numbers even through a chaotic and uncertain summer.
Children newborn to 5th grade /Teens
# of Summer Reading Registrations – 68/23
# of children recorded time reading – 31/12
Hours of reading recorded – 490.3/178.82
# of Grand Prize Winners (children who reached 1100 minutes in 6 weeks)– 16/6
Avg. attendees per week – 313 views
Grand Prize Winners
Adalynn Johnson, Alizabeth Fuchs, Arianna Johnson, Brent Forster, Cullen Johnson, David Goodner-Wilkie, Ethan Corona-Wilkie, Frederick Fiorelli, Keeley Moninger, Lillian Yetter, Mandi Mattox, Miles Babcock, Nicole McCaslin, Peyton Schmidt, Regan Babcock, and Ryan McCaslin
19 children programs held via Facebook Live:
1st week – 594 people reached, 118 engagements, 10 likes, 306 views
2nd week – 719 people reached, 124 engagements, 9 likes, 303 views
3rd week – 967 people reached, 151 engagements, 14 likes, 383 views
4th week – 792 people reached, 122 engagements, 10 likes, 287 views
5th week – 746 people reached, 76 engagements, 8 likes, 289 views
6th week – 832 people reached, 114 engagements, 5 likes, 314 views
7th week – 495 people reached, 34 engagements, 3 likes, 206 views
Teen Grand Prize Winners
Abigail Wiiest, Baily Hawkins, Braxtton Johnson, Chelsea Royle, Daron Rynearson, and Dylan Schmidt
The adult summer reading program also wrapped up at the end of July with six prize winners who read at least one day a week for six weeks. A total of 34 adult readers registered on Reader zone and together they marked 643 times they read from June 1 through July 19.
The prize winners were: Ellie Wells, Angie Foss, Teresa Smith, Theresa Wiiest, Andrew Lacy, and Heather Maseberg. Each winner received an “Imagine Your Story” book bag that contained a gift certificate, a bookmark, a portable reading light, a travel mug, and a hardcover book. All participants were eligible for the grand prize of the Kindle Fire HD 8 which was awarded to Teri Buhlmann.
