Cedar Rapids Library launches Winter Reading Challenge

Readers encouraged to explore books with specific themes such as diversity, empathy and action

The Cedar Rapids Public Library will participate in Beanstack’s Fifth Annual Winter Reading Challenge, “Read for a Better World,” sponsored by Lerner Publishing Group, for the month of January.

"Read for a Better World" encourages readers of all ages to explore diversity, empathy, and action through literature. The community will have unlimited access to digital copies of Lerner’s “Read for a Better World” themed books for the month of January directly in the Beanstack app and online at CRLibrary.beanstack.org. Copies of all of the books also are available through the library.

Cedar Rapids patrons are challenged to read at least 300 minutes from books on the list during the month of January and track their reading on the Beanstack site or app. Those who complete the challenge will win a Cedar Rapids Public Library beanie.

Book lists are curated for different age groups. The lists include books from bestselling and acclaimed authors, including Irene Latham, Charles Waters, Shelley Rotner, Angela Johnson, Kao Kalia Yang, Bob Raczka, Miranda Paul, Lee Wind, Traci Sorrell, Katey Howes and Laura Gehl, as well as classic titles including “Twelve Years a Slave,” “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,” and “Little Women.”

The challenge also will feature various Lerner titles that explore social emotional learning, such as “A Girl Like Me” (ages 0-5), “Ruth and the Green Book” (ages 5-10), “Into the Streets: A Young Person's Visual History of Protest in the United States” (ages 10-18), and “Dear Teen Me: Authors Write Letters to Their Teen Selves” (ages 18+).

Libraries and schools across the nation are participating in the challenge, and top-performing libraries and schools will earn prizes from Lerner Publishing Group, including book collections, signed books and virtual author visits.

For more information on the Cedar Rapids Public Library, visit CRLibrary.org.