Summer Reading 2026!
This year’s Summer Reading Program theme is Unearth a Story: Archaeology, Paleontology, and Dinosaurs!
The program officially begins on Monday, June 1st and runs through Saturday, August 1st.
Sign-up opens on Tuesday, May 26th.
The program is free and open to children and teens ages 0-18 years old. Our goal is to encourage a love of reading and discovery for everyone!
You are not required to sign-up for the Summer Reading Program to attend library events. We offer programs for all ages, including:
StoryPlay (Ages 0-2)
Storytime (Ages 3-5)
Kids Programs (Ages 6-11)
Teen Programs (Ages 12-18)
Performer programs on Thursday mornings, Wednesday afternoon movies, Paws to Read, and Lego Club (All Ages)
How to Participate in the Summer Reading Program:
Download the Beanstack app from your preferred app store. Click here to learn more about setting up your Beanstack account and registering for reading challenges.
Come into the library to sign-up for the Summer Reading Program and receive your free tote bag with important information and fun goodies. (one tote bag per child!)
Start logging how many days you spent reading in Beanstack.
We have 3 separate reading challenges in Beanstack:
Early Literacy Reading Challenge: Ages 0-5
Kids Reading Challenge: Ages 6-11
Teen Reading Challenge: Ages 12-18
Each Reading Challenge has the same weekly goal: Log 5 days spent reading each week.
Once you have logged 5 days of reading (there is no minimum amount you have to spend reading each day— you decide that yourself!), you will automatically earn a weekly reading badge. See the weekly badge breakdown here.
Once you have earned that week’s badge in Beanstack, you have the rest of that week AND the following week to come into the library to redeem your badge for a weekly prize and a Grand Prize Entry Slip.
Grand Prizes
$50 Amazon Gift Card
Buffalo Park Family Pass
$70 Mini Rock Gift Card to We Rock the Spectrum Kids Gym
$50 Lost Pizza Gift Card + $25 Funky Cones Gift Card
Barnes and Noble Prize Pack (We will draw twice for this prize for a winner ages 0-5 and a winner ages 6+)
The Grand Prize Drawing will be held on Monday, August 3rd before 9:00. We will Facebook Live the drawing and call the winners immediately afterward.
If you come all 9 weeks of summer, you will have 9 entries!
(If we happen to draw the same name twice for two different Grand Prizes, we will draw again for the second prize).
Summer Reading FAQs
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No! The Summer Reading Program is completely free to register for and participate in.
All fines and fees associated with borrowing books and media still apply.
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Yes! If you don’t wish to participate in the reading challenge, you do not have to sign-up for the Summer Reading Program. You can just attend the events that interest you.
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We strongly encourage you to get a library card with us if you live, work, or go to school in Lee or Itawamba County (it’s free!), but it is not required to participate in the Summer Reading Program.
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No! You can sign-up for Lee County’s Summer Reading Program even if you don’t live in the county!
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No! You can read whatever you like, though library staff will be happy to offer suggestions if you want!
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No! You can read books you already own or borrow from somewhere else! You are not required to only read books checked out from our library.
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Yes! Audiobooks count as reading towards your goal! You can check out free audiobooks for all ages on our Cloud Library app (downloadable from the app store!)
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Unfortunately, no. Once you earn a weekly badge, you can only redeem it at the library for a prize until the end of the following week. If you come in after that date, you cannot receive a prize for that badge. However, if you’ve continued to log your reading days, you will probably have earned a badge for a week that is still eligible to redeem a prize for!
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Program age recommendations are based on the program difficulty level and content. If you bring a younger child to a school-age kids program, your child may struggle with the activities. Library staff and volunteers may not be available to provide extra assistance. Additionally, many school-age programs use small objects or craft materials that may be hazardous if ingested by younger children. Please keep this in mind if you plan to attend!
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We do not require parents/caregivers to stay with teens during teen programs. Our policy states that children have to be ages 11+ to be able to use the library on their own. For these reasons, we try to keep our teen programs just for teens! We provide many programs for other age groups as well, so please do not bring young children to a teen program — we will kindly ask you to wait in the children’s department with younger children until the program is finished! Per the library’s Safe Child Policy, parents and caregivers are always responsible for the safety and well-being of their children!
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If you have a child that you do not wish to be photographed during library programs, please inform a Youth Services staff member on the day of the program. We always ask first if we want to take a focused shot of you and your children, but we cannot reasonably ask everyone when taking wide shots of many children at once. If you are attending a big program on Thursday mornings, please do not seat your child on the front row. Please remember that we see hundreds of children during the summer, and we may not remember which children can’t be photographed. We will do our best to accommodate your request, which may include blurring your child’s face in the published photos of the event. Thank you for understanding!
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If you have questions about using Beanstack, the Summer Reading Program, events, or anything else, these are your options:
Speak to a staff member in person at the library
Call the library at 662-841-9027
Email info@li.lib.ms.us
Not just for kids.
This summer we are also offering a reading challenge for adults! Join us for Summer Book Bingo, discover some new great reads, and complete all squares for a chance to win some great prizes!
