PUEBLO, Colo. — Reading Pays: Pueblo’s $1 Million Reading Challenge returns for a second year. Pueblo City-County Library District’s (PCCLD) reading challenge offers Pueblo County youth, age birth to 17, the chance to read their way to earning $100 during the summer. The challenge ends August 31.
PCCLD’s Executive Director Jon Walker said “The Pueblo City-County Library is proud to help bring back this program for the summer of 2022 for the young people and families in our community. We learned from last year's successful project that it increases young people's confidence in reading, improves their financial literacy, and puts dollars to work quickly in our local economy.”
Funding for the program is again provided by the city and county of Pueblo through the American Rescue Plan Act to help the county rebound from the effects of COVID-19. All funds will directly impact area youth; the library district will not keep any of the funds for administrative fees. More than $700,000 was distributed during 2021’s Reading Pays program.
Pueblo Mayor Nick Gradisar added, “The Reading Pays program was such a success across the City of Pueblo last year and we are excited to support this effort again this summer. We know Reading Pays offers the opportunity for kids to fall in love with reading, practice accountability, be introduced to financial literacy and create healthy habits. These are all important for the youth in our city and we are happy to foster this opportunity again by financially supporting the program.”
To encourage a love of reading and mitigate learning interruptions during the summer, more than 14,000 students throughout Pueblo County are preregistered in the program. All of Pueblo County School District 70’s more than 6,400 the elementary and middle school students are preregistered as are more than 6,300 students in Pueblo School District 60. For those not registered through a participating school, registration is now open online at www.pueblolibrary.org/readingpays. Spots are available on a first-come, first-served basis and Reading Pays participants may only complete once.
To earn their $100, participants must check out or download 10 items from PCCLD. To finish, they then must submit one of the following: a short written review, a drawing, or video explaining what they thought about one of their 10 titles. Response submissions are accepted online at www.pueblolibrary.org/readingpays. A certificate of completion and voucher for the $100 will be mailed directly to the participant’s home; the $100 voucher is redeemable at any Bank of the San Juans locations prior to the expiration date.
Community partners in the Reading Pays program include the city and county of Pueblo, the library district, Bank of the San Juans and Executives Partnering to Invest in Children (EPIC) of Pueblo. In addition to earning the $100, participants can take home and keep books donated by EPIC. The organization donated 9,000 books to the library district in support of Reading Pays.
For questions about the program, visit the Frequently Asked Questions Page at www.pueblolibrary.org/readingpays. For additional assistance call (719) 553-0211 or email readingpays@pueblolibrary.org.
Participating schools include:
District 60
Belmont Elementary School
Bessemer Academy
Bradford Elementary School
Columbian Elementary School
Corwin International Magnet School
D60 Online
Franklin School of Innovation
Goodnight School
Haaff Elementary School
Heritage Elementary School
Highland Park Elementary School
Irving Elementary School
Minnequa Elementary School
Risley International Academy of Innovation
Sunset Park Elementary School
District 70
Avondale Elementary School
Beulah School of Natural Sciences
Cedar Ridge Elementary School
Craver Middle School
Desert Sage Elementary School
Liberty Point Elementary School
Liberty Point International School
North Mesa Elementary School
Pleasant View Middle School
Prairie Winds Elementary School
Rye Elementary School
Sierra Vista Elementary School
Skyview Middle School
South Mesa Elementary School
Vineland Elementary School
Vineland Middle School
Villa Bella Expeditionary School
To learn more about PCCLD follow our social media and visit www.pueblolibrary.org.
PCCLD’s Executive Director Jon Walker said “The Pueblo City-County Library is proud to help bring back this program for the summer of 2022 for the young people and families in our community. We learned from last year's successful project that it increases young people's confidence in reading, improves their financial literacy, and puts dollars to work quickly in our local economy.”
Funding for the program is again provided by the city and county of Pueblo through the American Rescue Plan Act to help the county rebound from the effects of COVID-19. All funds will directly impact area youth; the library district will not keep any of the funds for administrative fees. More than $700,000 was distributed during 2021’s Reading Pays program.
Pueblo Mayor Nick Gradisar added, “The Reading Pays program was such a success across the City of Pueblo last year and we are excited to support this effort again this summer. We know Reading Pays offers the opportunity for kids to fall in love with reading, practice accountability, be introduced to financial literacy and create healthy habits. These are all important for the youth in our city and we are happy to foster this opportunity again by financially supporting the program.”
To encourage a love of reading and mitigate learning interruptions during the summer, more than 14,000 students throughout Pueblo County are preregistered in the program. All of Pueblo County School District 70’s more than 6,400 the elementary and middle school students are preregistered as are more than 6,300 students in Pueblo School District 60. For those not registered through a participating school, registration is now open online at www.pueblolibrary.org/readingpays. Spots are available on a first-come, first-served basis and Reading Pays participants may only complete once.
To earn their $100, participants must check out or download 10 items from PCCLD. To finish, they then must submit one of the following: a short written review, a drawing, or video explaining what they thought about one of their 10 titles. Response submissions are accepted online at www.pueblolibrary.org/readingpays. A certificate of completion and voucher for the $100 will be mailed directly to the participant’s home; the $100 voucher is redeemable at any Bank of the San Juans locations prior to the expiration date.
Community partners in the Reading Pays program include the city and county of Pueblo, the library district, Bank of the San Juans and Executives Partnering to Invest in Children (EPIC) of Pueblo. In addition to earning the $100, participants can take home and keep books donated by EPIC. The organization donated 9,000 books to the library district in support of Reading Pays.
For questions about the program, visit the Frequently Asked Questions Page at www.pueblolibrary.org/readingpays. For additional assistance call (719) 553-0211 or email readingpays@pueblolibrary.org.
Participating schools include:
District 60
Belmont Elementary School
Bessemer Academy
Bradford Elementary School
Columbian Elementary School
Corwin International Magnet School
D60 Online
Franklin School of Innovation
Goodnight School
Haaff Elementary School
Heritage Elementary School
Highland Park Elementary School
Irving Elementary School
Minnequa Elementary School
Risley International Academy of Innovation
Sunset Park Elementary School
District 70
Avondale Elementary School
Beulah School of Natural Sciences
Cedar Ridge Elementary School
Craver Middle School
Desert Sage Elementary School
Liberty Point Elementary School
Liberty Point International School
North Mesa Elementary School
Pleasant View Middle School
Prairie Winds Elementary School
Rye Elementary School
Sierra Vista Elementary School
Skyview Middle School
South Mesa Elementary School
Vineland Elementary School
Vineland Middle School
Villa Bella Expeditionary School
To learn more about PCCLD follow our social media and visit www.pueblolibrary.org.