The Quest Is On

For the first time, our SummerQuest reading program is online, due to the pandemic. As always, Library Associate Dave Burbank has created a great adventure story and gameboard; embedded in the story are 10 reading challenges. The story, game board and SummerQuest directions can be found on the Friends of the Takoma Park Maryland Library website: https://ftpml.org.

Because the library is closed, however, readers won’t be able to track their progress along the giant gameboard in the Children’s Room as usual. Instead, readers can track their progress with special codes through Reader Zone (https://www.readerzone.com), which can be downloaded as a free app or accessed on a computer via the Reader Zone website. Readers win a “badge” – an image of one of Dave’s many SummerQuest characters – when they complete each challenge. The main code for SummerQuest 2020 is: 1bcb5. Full instructions for using Reader Zone can be found on the Friends of the Library’s website: https://ftpml.org.

For parents of very young children, there’s also a set of special challenges. These challenges include acting out a picture book, doing some cooking together, and reading an alphabet book. Use this code on Reader Zone – 3a110 – to track your family’s progress on these Pre-K challenges.

One difference this year in SummerQuest is that all books count, not just those checked out from the library. In addition to print books that you may have at home or have borrowed from the library, there are many sources for books online. Check out our digital book sources here: www.takomapark.info/library/
ebooks.html.

Some of these digital resources require you to use your library card number to set up a personal account (if you haven’t already). These include: Hoopla for audiobooks, ebooks, and comics, and Freading for ebooks, including lots of excellent non-fiction. For TumbleBooks you don’t need to set up a special account, just use your library card number every time you sign in.

This article appeared in the July 2020 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.