Summer Reading Program 2026
Thank you SO much to everyone that participated in our Summer Reading Program this year! We had over 200 people participate and as a community we read 635,000 minutes!
All of our activities were well attended and we can’t thank everyone enough for making this such a fun summer. All of the raffle and scavenger hunt winners have been notified. We’re looking forward to doing it again next summer!
The Summer Reading Program will run from Saturday, June 20th through Saturday, August 15th! All ages are welcome to participate! We will have categories for Young Readers (ages 0-6 years old), Child Readers (ages 7-12 years old), Teen Readers (13-17 years old) and Adult Readers (ages 18 and up!). If you read to young children, that reading time counts for you and the children. Child and Young Readers are welcome to submit their reading time for tickets. 12 tickets can be used in our Prize Room and anything earned after that can be put into one of several raffles!
We will have fun activities, crafts, and events every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 12:30pm and on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm! Check out the schedule below or the calendar to see what’s coming up! We hope to see you soon!
Explore our community with a stuffed animal scavenger hunt! Look for each of these 8 plant stuffies within local (walking distance) businesses. Tell a librarian where you found an animal to enter a raffle ticket for it at the library. Try to find all the animals before the drawing at the end of the summer reading program! Photos of the other animals are at the bottom!
Jefferson Summer Reading Program 2026
The Summer Reading Program is here! And this summer, it’s more important than ever to get reading, whether you’re a little one just learning to love books or an adult bookworm ready to dive in to something new. This year’s theme is “Level Up at Your Library”! We’ll have themed events and activities, monthly activity kits for pick up, and prizes for kids, teens, and adults.
Summer Reading starts Saturday, June 20th and runs until Saturday, August 15th. Sign up so you don’t miss out on any of the fun!
Click here to sign up for our online reading tracker: ReaderZone! or, you can search for the ReaderZone app on any smart device. Use the code 9d028 to sign up all your readers!
Important Dates:
- June 20 @ 12pm – Summer Reading Program Opening Party!
- June 25 @ 12:30pm – Paradise of Samoa (Performer)
- June 27 @ 12pm – 2pm Early Childhood Literacy Activity Day
- June 27 @ 2pm – 3pm Read-to-a-Dog
- July 1 @ 12:30pm – Color Your Own Puzzle
- July 2 @ 12:30pm – Memory Game
- July 2 @ 12:30 – Unit Souzou (Performer)
- July 4 – LIBRARY CLOSED
- July 11 @ 12:00 – Play with Goats from Goat It Solutions
- July 16 @ 12:30 – Red Yarn (Performer)
- July 23 @ 12:30 – UofO/ MNCH Bee Amazed
- August 15 @ 12pm – End of Summer Reading Program Party/ Game Day and Dungeons & Dragons
- August 22 @ 3pm – Prize Room Closes/ Last Day to turn in Raffle Tickets
- August 22 @ 3:15pm – Raffle Drawing
August 23 – Last day to turn in Reading Logs – Raffle drawing at 3:15pm!
Summer Reading Program FAQ
Who is the summer reading program for? All ages! Anyone can participate in the summer reading program. You can join with or without a library card. Marion county residents can get a card at the library. Ask a librarian for more details about library cards and access! The library is open for browsing and curbside pick-up this summer!
When is it? The summer reading program starts Saturday, June 20th, until August 15th. Teen and adult prizes will be drawn on August 22nd at 3:15pm. Winners will be contacted by phone or email.
How do I start? Get the Readerzone app or register with a web browser. It is available on Google play, Apple’s App Store and Amazon apps. Use the code 9d028 for all readers, then select your reading group. When you come to the library in person, pick up a reading bag with materials for you to enjoy the summer reading program!
Young readers, ages newborn to about 6, read for 1 hour to earn a ticket to trade for a prize in the library Prize Store.
Child readers, ages 6 through 12, read for 2 hours to earn a ticket.
This year, we will have a “Prize Store” located in the library meeting room for the child and young reader prizes with items of 1-3 ticket values, so you either take home a prize every time you earn a ticket or save tickets to win bigger prizes. Just remember to use all your tickets by the end of the summer reading program! Young Readers and Child Readers will be limited to a maximum of 12 tickets to be used in our Prize Room on prizes. And tickets earned after that must be submitted into one of our several Children Raffle Prizes! This way we can ensure that everyone will be able to be able to enjoy our Prize Room!
Teen readers, ages 13-17, read for 3 hours to earn a raffle ticket to submit for their choice of prize pack to be drawn at the end of the summer reading program.
Young reader, child and teen reading group ages are intended as guides. Please choose the challenge that suits your child!
Adults readers read for 5 hours to earn a raffle ticket for one of the adult prize pack .
For all reading groups, there is no limit to the number of tickets you can earn! Teens and adults each have a choice of 16 prize packs to try to win. You can enter tickets into a single raffle or enter multiple raffles with your tickets. You can view all the the prize packs at the library and at the bottom of this webpage.
Can my older child enter a teen raffle? Yes, if an older child would like to enter into a teen raffle they can, so long as they decide at the beginning of the program which they want to enter (child or teen) and they stick to it. If a child wants to enter into a teen raffle, they will need to read 3 hours per ticket.
What happens if I win more than one raffle? If someone’s name is pulled for more than one raffle, they will be able to keep both prizes. If they decide they don’t want to keep both prizes, we will redraw for the one they don’t want to keep.
What if I don’t use the Readerzone app? Come to the library to pick up a paper reading tracking form for you age group, and bring it to the library when you come to collect your tickets!
What counts as reading? You can read books, graphic novels, comic books, magazines, Ebooks, listen to audiobooks or digital audiobooks. Reading to someone else, or someone reading to you counts too! Just track how many minutes you spend reading. Web browsing and social media doesn’t count.
Where do I go? The library is located at 150 N 2nd St. Suite B, next to the City Hall. All in-person events will be held here, and it is where you go to get tickets, prizes and activity kits. You can call the library at 541-327-3826 for more information.
What events can I attend? See live performances by Paradise of Samoa (June 25th @ 12:30pm), Unit Souzou (July 2nd @ 12:30pm), play with goats from Goat It Solutions (July 11th @ 12:00pm), the Red Yarn (July 16th @ 12:30pm) and the University of Oregon’s Bee Amazed (July 23rd @ 12:30pm).
.
Weekly Storytime for children ages newborn to 6 years old will be every Wednesday at 11:30am! Pick up a storytime passport at the library. Children that make it to 6 or more will get a book and a stuffie!
Other events will be held at the library for all ages. Download or pick-up a calendar for details.
We’ll see you at the Jefferson Public Library This Summer!
Teens and Adults can submit their tickets to one, several, or all of the Raffle Prize groups listed below!
– Adult Grand Prize: Local Gift Cards
– Teen Grand Prize: Local Gift Cards
– Cooking
– Books
– Teen Decor
– Enchanted Forest
– Gaming
– Fairy
– Photography
There are also going to be SIX raffle categories for Young and Child Readers and THREE raffle categories for toddlers. Children can spend up to 12 of their tickets in the Prize Room and everything else after needs to go to one (or more) of the raffles. Children can also enter their tickets into a raffle if they would like without spending any in the Prize Room.
The Children’s Raffle Prize categories are:
– Water Fun
– Crafting
– LEGO
– Firetruck
– Robotics
– Gardening
The Toddler’s Raffle Prize categories are:
– Bee’s
– Food
– Safari
Child and Young Reader Prize Room
– Come to the library to see all the choices!
1 Ticket
2 Ticket
3 Ticket
Scavenger Hunt
These critters are hidden in local businesses around town! Make sure to leave them where you find them and keep track of who you’ve found and where! Then stop by the library and let a librarian know and you’ll get a raffle ticket to enter into a raffle for the stuffie(s) that you’ve found!
