JACKSONVILLE. Fla. – “20 minutes a day paves the way.”
That’s the slogan Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan said was created for a year-long push to improve literacy among school-aged children.
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Deegan said less than half of third graders are reading on grade level — a fact that encouraged the mayor to want to tackle literacy issues under her administration.
River City Readers challenges students to track how many minutes they read daily. The goal is to complete at least 20 minutes — although students are encouraged to go even further.
Participating students will need to download the BeanStack app to log reading minutes. At the end of the year, the city’s top young readers will be awarded prizes. The challenge will launch at the Jacksonville Main Library at a special free event on Saturday.
Here’s how to join the challenge:
DOWNLOAD THE FREE BEANSTACK APP:
- Go to the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. Download and open the Beanstack Tracker app.
REGISTER FOR THE RIVER CITY READERS CHALLENGE:
- Open the app and choose At my library, school or bookstore.
- Using the Find a Site search bar, type Jax Library or River City Readers
- Select Jax Library River City Readers (FL).
- At the bottom of screen, you’ll see Don’t have an account? Select Sign up!
- Select No when asked if you have previously used Beanstack with Jacksonville Public Library.
- Create an account by adding an email and creating a password. Select Continue.
- Add your First and Last Name and select Continue.
- Add a Phone Number and Zip Code. (This is optional.) Select Continue.
- Choose a Library.
- Your account is created! You can add additional information about yourself or add additional readers.
- Now you’re ready to start tracking your reading minutes, earning achievements and badges, and completing activities.
You can also register and log your reading minutes on the Beanstack website at https://jaxpl.beanstack.com.
LOG YOUR READING MINUTES:
- Go to the Beanstack app.
- The Home screen has a summary of your reading activities.
- To log time read, touch the plus sign in the green button at the bottom of the screen.
- Touch the Reading button to log time spent reading.
- If you have more than one reader in your account, you will be prompted to choose the reader you are logging for.
- Choose your logging method.
- When logging by book title, if you only know part of the title, you can choose Search for a Title and enter what you know.
- Touch the title that you want to log.
- If you want to track your reading progress as you progress through a book, keep the Track progress button on. If you would like to only add minutes read to your log, turn off the Track progress button.
Stay Tuned for Future Events
After the kickoff, the Mayor will conduct monthly literacy events throughout 2024 - and beyond - at schools, libraries, and community centers, to promote the importance of literacy. She will also employ a branded bookmobile and take it throughout the city for events.