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Summer Reading Program Help & FAQs

General

What is the Summer Reading Program?

Summer Reading is Cobb County Public Library’s annual initiative to engage our community throughout the summer. From May 13 to July 31, everyone in Cobb is encouraged to participate in Summer Reading in Beanstack to win prizes!

 

Who can participate in Summer Reading?

Anyone can participate in Summer Reading! There are no age limits and there is something for everyone, birth through adulthood.

Why should I participate in Summer Reading?

Because it supports family bonding time, community engagement, and shared learning experiences; and it's beneficial for everyone in our community:

Children: Begin building language and reading skills. Reading to young children, even infants, increases word recognition and vocabulary!

Students: Students are at risk of losing 2-3 months of reading and math skills over the summer. Keep students learning and engaged by encouraging them to complete Summer Reading!

Adults: Make time for yourself to experience the joys of reading – it’s a great way to relieve stress and strengthen your brain! As little as 15 minutes a day is proven to make a difference!

How does Summer Reading work?

  1. Create an account on Beanstack and join Summer Reading.
  2.  Log minutes read and/or activities completed to earn Bingo.
  3. One Bingo earns you a prize at your library and an entry into the grand prize drawing.
  4. Black out your Bingo board for another entry into the grand prize drawing (or a second prize for children).

What are the Summer Reading prizes?

  Bingo Blackout Bingo
Children

a free book &

entry into grand prize drawing

Jibbitz
Teens & Adults

choice of hat, mug,
tote, or lapel pin &

entry into grand prize
drawing

second entry into grand prize drawing

 

Beanstack

What is Beanstack?

Beanstack is a free, online reading tracker. Beanstack helps us encourage reading by making it easy to create reading challenges for our community. It motivates everyone to reach their reading goals!

For Summer Reading, track the minutes you read and/or the learning activities you complete to earn Bingo in Beanstack.

Beanstack is available online and as an app:

Beanstack website | Beanstack for iPhone | Beanstack for Android

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Beanstack logo: a teal square with a white heart in the middle

How do I sign up for a Beanstack account?

  1. Visit cobbcat.beanstack.org or download the Beanstack App (by Zoobean) from the Apple Store or Google Play.
  2. Create an account in Beanstack. 
  3. Add “readers,” yourself and/or the members of your family.
  4. Join Summer Reading :)

Need a hand? Check out these help videos from Beanstack or download our handout:

Create an account on the website video. | Create an account in the app video. | Create an account handout.

How do I link my child's school Beanstack account to their library Beanstack account?

Accounts must be linked on Beanstack's website.

  1. Visit cobbcat.beanstack.org and sign in to your account.
  2. Select the correct reader, click the pencil icon, and select Basic Information. Confirm or update your child's school.
  3. Enter your child's student number as the username and 4-digit birthdate (MMDD) as the password.
  4. Done! Now minutes logged in either account (school or library) will count to challenges in both accounts!

Need a hand? Check out this help video from Beanstack or download our handout:

Link school and library accounts video. | Link school and library accounts handout.

Do I have to use Beanstack? I'd rather be offline this summer.

We prefer that you use Beanstack, but we won't force you to. Download our paper log in English or Spanish:

Log in English | Log in Spanish