After the Johnson County Public Library system saw record numbers of people participate in its summer reading program in 2018, a new program this winter brought out more people as well.
The new Explore Winter program saw a 16.7 percent increase in participation over last year’s winter program, the library’s programming director Sarah Taylor said.
While in past years the library had winter programs that encouraged either visiting the different branches, participating in activities or doing a certain amount of reading, the Explore Winter program combined ideas of programs past. Participants could earn seven different badges for cooking, reading different genres, checking out movies from the library, participating in library programs, traveling to different places in Johnson County and more, she said.
The program, which 1,179 people took part in between Jan. 7 and Feb. 28, also encouraged family participation and saw a mix of 622 children, 483 adults and 74 teenagers compared to previous years which had predominantly adult participation, Taylor said. A grand prize was awarded to one member from each branch.
“People liked working together as a family to earn badges,” Taylor said. “We try to put a little bit of it all. Instead of counting time (spent reading), look at different genres, different (library) visits. We put together all the things that are wonderful about the library in wintertime.”
Each library branch also offered a smaller prize to one person for each of the seven badges. To earn a cooking badge, for example, participants could check out a cookbook, send photos of food they cooked or tell the library about that food to earn credit.
“The Explore Winter program is an experience-based program; we try to include different ways to engage with the library and the community,” Taylor said. “What we really want to do for Explore Winter is to promote things we can do in the library that people don’t know about.”
