1,000 Books Before Kindergarten

Children get a jump start for school by participating in this free program that encourages families to read 1,000 books before their children start kindergarten.

Program Overview

The concept is simple, however the rewards are priceless. Read a book - any book - to your newborn, infant or toddler. The goal is to have read 1,000 books before your little one starts kindergarten.

Reading 1,000 books isn’t as difficult as it sounds. If you read just one book a day, you will reach 1,000 in just three years. If you read three books a day, you’ll finish in under a year. Considering most children start kindergarten at around age 5, you have more than enough time to complete the challenge.

How to Participate

1. Visit the front desk of the Mansfield Public Library to sign up.
2. Each child can participate on paper or online. With paper, they will receive a sentence strip showing their name, year they start kindergarten and space for milestone stickers. These sentence strips will be displayed in the library in the children’s section. Families can use the library's reading challenge platform, Beanstack, to participate online. 
3. Start reading!
4. Keep track of the number of books read. You may use a notebook, your phone, online with Beanstack or whatever method you wish.
5. Visit the front desk of the library for every 100 books read to receive a milestone sticker to display on your sentence strip or earn digital badges if you are tracking online. You don’t have to present your reading list to staff.
6. Once you have read 1,000 books together, stop by the Mansfield Public Library to receive a special medal for your child to commemorate their accomplishment.

What is Beanstack?

Beanstack is a digital platform that allows you to easily track your reading and participate in activities.

How do I sign up?

Click on the "Go To Beanstack" button below to access Beanstack from your computer or through the Beanstack app. The Beanstack app is available in iOS or Android. You can sign up as an individual or the whole family together. Parents can also create a Beanstack account for their kids.

Backpacks

The library now offers 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten backpacks. Each backpack is filled with 10 different books in a convenient and portable package. Once you’ve read through 100 backpacks, you’ll have read 1,000 books. The library is currently working towards providing 200 different backpacks.

Enjoy these printable backpack reading logs:

Backpack 1-100 Reading Log

Backpack 101-200 Reading Log