Curl Up with Books and Win Prizes as Part of BPL Winter Reading Challenge

What: Birmingham Public Library 2019 Winter Reading Challenge

When: January 1-31, 2019

Details: BPL is among libraries across the country participating in Beanstack’s  2nd Annual Winter Reading Challenge. All participants who read and log 310 minutes during the month of January will be entered into a drawing for a Winter Prize Pack.

Cold weather months are a good time to curl up to a good book. The Birmingham Public Library wants to encourage patrons of all ages to take time out this winter and experience the joy of reading.

From January 1 through January 31, 2019, BPL is among libraries across the country participating in Beanstack’s 2nd Annual Winter Reading Challenge, sponsored by Mark Cuban. All participants who read and log 310 minutes (about 10 minutes a day) will be entered into a drawing for a Winter Prize Pack. Each of BPL's 19 libraries will present the patron who wins their drawing one Winter Prize Pack gift card. 

Hundreds of libraries and schools across the nation are encouraging their communities to read a target number of minutes and books. BPL’s reading challenge has set a goal of 15,000 reading minutes. Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban will donate $35,000 to the top participating libraries to help them expand their resources to the communities they serve.

To enter the BPL 2019 Winter Reading Challenge, follow these instructions:

1. Create or log in to your Beanstack account. Visit the Birmingham Public Library website and click on the Winter Reading Challenge banner. Follow the instructions. You may also use your mobile device to download the Beanstack app.
2. Log the minutes you read to earn virtual badges. You may use the timer on the Beanstack app to assist with this process.
3. All participants who read and log 310 minutes in Beanstack will be entered into a drawing for a Winter Prize Pack.

In addition to a Winter Reading Challenge held in January 2018, BPL has also hosted two other reading challenges. The first, Book Feast Reading Challenge, took place November 14–28, 2016, and was designed to encourage kids to read during the Thanksgiving holiday break. From December 12, 2016, through January 22, 2017, students who read a certain number of library books as part of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Out of This World @ Birmingham Public Library Reading Challenge earned a free ticket to the circus at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex.