CLINTON, Iowa — This summer, the Clinton library is challenging its patrons to read more hours than other libraries across the country. But there's a twist: it's not just against any library; it's all Clinton libraries.
Libraries in Clinton, Iowa, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts are all part of the competition. Since Memorial Day, library patrons have logged their weekly reading hours.
After nine weeks, Iowa is in the lead.
"We have a little less than five weeks left in the challenge, so I think we'll definitely hit 10,000 hours read," said Kate Struble, the Clinton, Iowa library's community engagement specialist. "But it's bigger than just our library. It's about promoting reading at all the Clinton libraries and beyond. So it'll be great to see the impact we've made for folks who are reading across all the Clinton libraries."
About 100 people have signed up so far in Iowa to participate in the challenge. It's the most amount of people who have ever participated in one of its adult reading challenges.
This is the first year Iowa joined. It started in 2021 between New York and New Jersey. New York won the first year and again last year with 9,901 hours read.
"This week New York is really coming up behind us." she said. "So when people visit the library, they've been like, oh, wow, I really need to read more this week."
While the challenge is only for people in Clinton ages 18 and older, Struble hopes it trickles down to promote reading for kids too.
"People think of summer reading challenges as really kid focuses, which, of course, it is, especially to combat the summer slide when kids aren't reading and when kids aren't in school," Struble said. "But a lot of kids are encouraged when they see adults reading, actually when that behavior of modeled for them."
There are more than 40 different towns named Clinton in the U.S., so the libraries hope the competition grows each year.
There's still time to sign up to participate in the challenge. It ends on Labor Day. If you want to participate, all you have to do is pick up a reading log form from the library or online. Each week, fill out your hours and submit it by Monday at noon.
The winning library will be announced on Monday, Sept. 9. The winning library will get the traveling trophy and top readers will get a trophy too. Each time a participant turns in their reading log on time, they'll also be entered to win a prize.
You can learn more about the challenge online here.