Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library is in the middle of its Winter Reading Challenge and staff are still mustering kids and their families and others to join in on the fun and the chance to win prizes. Assistant Director Harolyn Hylton said the challenge is just what everyone needed especially after a challenging 2020.

“It seems readers are saying, ‘Bring it on!’ Comments from our adult readers ranged from ‘well, I have been reading more, so why not?’ to ‘Sure, I'll do the challenge, what else is there to do?’ And of course, my favorite: ‘This will keep me out of trouble and off the streets.’”

The challenge consists of the online Beanstack challenge for kids and their families and the “paper challenge” for adults going it alone and who just want a checklist. Beanstack participants can earn raffle tickets by completing reading challenges, writing reviews of their latest reads and earning activity badges. Tickets can be entered into several drawings until March 20 when the challenge ends. The December, January and February prizes are a Kindle Fire and a mug and cocoa. The drawings are Jan. 5, Feb. 5 and March 5 and only one ticket can be used for each. The two grand prizes are a beanbag chair with a Kindle Fire and a beanbag chair with a jumbo tin of Coastal Maine Popcorn. Readers can submit multiple tickets for the grand prizes.

“Our (paper challenge) is more low-tech,” said Community Technology Coordinator Bethany Schmidt. “Adults pick up a reading challenge booklet at the library. Read any book of your choice from one of the categories listed. We've included a few suggestions, but the book you read is your choice! Then, fill out the raffle ticket in your booklet and bring it back to the library. You can hand it to us or put it into the ticket drop box in the corner of the book drop. So far, we've given out over 60 adult reading challenges!”

Paper challenge tickets are good for the same drawings as the Beanstack challenge which also includes other prizes like Boothbay Harbor business gift cards, said Schmidt. The grand prize for the paper lovers is a six-month subscription to Great Courses Online.

Said Hylton, “Parents doing the family challenge are truly excited to have the summer program spill into winter … but nothing beats the wordless reactions from our younger readers, the beaming smiles, twinkling eyes, and nodding heads says it all!”

Contact Schmidt for help getting started with Beanstack at 633-3112 or tech@bbhlibrary.org. To learn more about the winter Reading Challenge, go to bbhlibrary.org/winter-reading-challenge