Humboldt County library launches summer reading challenge for all ages
Free sign-ups start June 13, with prizes every 100 minutes read for kids and raffle chances for teens and adults across every Humboldt branch and the Bookmobile.
Humboldt County families will have a free, countywide reading option to lean on when school lets out, with the Humboldt County Public Library’s summer challenge opening Saturday, June 13 and running through Saturday, Aug. 8 across every branch and the Bookmobile.
This year’s theme, Plant a Seed, Read!, ties books to farm-to-table ideas and the broader links between food, stories, family, culture, economy and ecology. The library says the program is built to be more than a reading log. It will include interactive programs, storytimes, guest presenters and other activities meant to make summer reading social as well as practical for children, teens and adults.
For younger readers, the structure is simple: every 100 minutes read earns a prize or an entry into the end-of-summer raffle. Teens and adults have their own tracks, including self-directed reading goals, up to six completed reading logs for raffle chances and a reading bingo option for anyone who wants a different format. Sign-ups will be available at any branch or through the Humboldt County Bookmobile, giving families in town and in more remote parts of the county the same entry point.
That reach matters in a county where the library system includes one main library in Eureka, ten branch libraries and a Bookmobile that serves rural stops including Orleans, Bridgeville, Dinsmore, Petrolia, Honeydew, Miranda, Myers Flat, Weott, Redcrest, Big Lagoon and Orick. County figures show the system logged 244,081 in-person visits and 194,512 internet visits in the year from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, and 122,767 of Humboldt County’s 133,100 residents were library members.
The county’s library history helps explain why the summer challenge reaches so far beyond the larger towns. Eureka became the first city in California to support a free public library with public funds in 1878, and Humboldt County established its County Free Library system in 1915 to serve residents outside Eureka, Ferndale and Arcata. That countywide mission is still visible in the summer program, especially in the Bookmobile’s rural route and in the Arcata Library kickoff event, which will feature Carl Meredith for a Singalong Storytime party with family music.
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