The Perry Public Library saw an increase in participation during their “All Together Now Teen Summer Reading Program.”

Youth Services Librarian Laura Pieper says that they had 75 teens sign up for the program which was a 125-percent increase from last year. She notes the zombie finale party had the biggest turnout. Pieper says that teens would earn scratch cards by filling out book reviews to win prizes. She explains that the teenagers took the initiative to improve their reading. 

“Getting a kid to read, getting a teen to read a book and fill out more than two sentences, two word book review is like pulling teeth. And we had 293 book reviews submitted by our teens and the number of teens who submitted at least one book review was 37% of all of our teens that signed up, which is pretty impressive when you think about it.”

Adult Services Librarian Mindy Farmer adds they also had businesses participate with the adult program. Farmer mentions that they held multiple events at The Proletariat along with a game night at the Tin Ping and a secret book swap at the Perry Perk. Farmer tells Raccoon Valley Radio that they had more than 100 people sign up, and she was happy with the amount of people who showed up to each program. 

“We had some people who were really committed to participating. One of the things that was super fun about this year is that we went with a passport style and we changed up a little bit the way people could participate. So as always, you can always read, listen to audiobooks for entries, but we also go with the community theme, asking or inviting people to volunteer to do random acts of kindness.”

The Perry Public Library’s summer reading programs will start back up next year in June.