We all know 2020 hasn't gone as originally planned. We had to go without in-person story times and school visits from librarians, but there is some good that came out of this tumultuous year! Even with all the hurdles and heartbreak 2020 has thrown at us, some of you have still managed to expand your children's early literacy. In 2020, we had 108 additional children take on the challenge of reading 1,000 books before they reach kindergarten.

Together, all participants read 31,035 books, and 25 of all our participants completed their 1,000-book reading goal this year! We are all hoping for a better 2021, and you can be a part of that positive change by registering your child for 1KBBK.

For those who don't know about 1KBBK, it's an early literacy program that challenges children to read 1,000 books before they enter kindergarten. That may seem like an insurmountable feat, but you can reach that goal in just three years if you read only one book a day. (For those who want to speed through the program, all you need to do is read three books each day and you will have completed it in a year!) It's also never too soon to start reading to your child, so even newborns can be registered.

And just so you know, you don't have to read 1,000 different books. Each time you read a book, it will count toward your child's 1,000 book goal. Repetition is actually important for your child's brain development in the first three years of life. As babies' brains grow, they create neural connections or synapses. The more times they use that particular synapse, or read that truck book for the 30th time, it becomes thicker. The synapses that don't get thicker are pruned or removed from the brain. (Think of the adage "use it or lose it.") To read more about brain development and how to raise a reader, check out this information from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Get your child started on the 1KBBK challenge.