Raglan and other Waikato District Libraries have won the Beanstack Winter Reading Challenge, competing against seven districts across Australia and New Zealand for the top spot.
The challenge, which asked participants to complete and log over 300 minutes of reading during the month of July, saw 13 of our library members read 21,591 minutes across the month.
Beanstack is an online platform designed to motivate people to read more.
Waikato District Libraries signed up to Beanstack in January 2022, with the aim to continue to build the reading experience for library customers by providing a service to encourage participation in regular reading challenges.
Library Coordinator at Waikato District Council Cheryl Maskell said that the Winter Reading Challenge was assessed on several criteria, including overall participation, total minutes logged and community engagement with the libraries.
“We’re absolutely over the moon to hear that the contributions that our communities made during July put our libraries in the top place,” she said.
“To take out the top spot when the platform is so new to our communities is an incredible honour.
“One of our four key goals through to 2029 is to build a unique and effective reading experience for our communities, and our reading challenges are a key part of this.”
The next Beanstack Reading Challenge will open in October for Halloween and the school holidays.
You are able to sign up to the challenge online or in-person at one of the six sites across the district: Huntly, Meremere, Ngāruawāhia, Raglan, Te Kauwhata and Tuakau.
Waikato District Libraries’ membership is available and free to residents and ratepayers living within the district.
For more information, head to the Waikato District Council website or join the Waikato District Libraries group on Facebook.