501-918-3025
calsfoundation@cals.org
calsfoundation@cals.org
What is 1000 Books
The concept is simple; the rewards are priceless. Read a book (any book) to your baby, toddler, or preschooler. The goal is to have read 1,000 books (yes, you can repeat books) before your precious one starts kindergarten. It may sound hard, but think about it this way: If you read just 1 book a night, you will have read about 365 books in a year. That is 730 books in two years and 1,095 books in three years. If you consider that most children start kindergarten at around 5 years of age, you have more time than you think, but it’s time to get started.
The key is perseverance. Make it exciting. When your child reaches a milestone, give him/her a small reward (stickers, backpacks, books). Be sure and visit the library and pick up a sticker each time your child reads 100 books. When you have read 1000 books, the library will give your child a free book for your home library!
How To Participate
Participation in the program is easy. All participants have to do is read with a child and track the titles of the books that have been read. Parents can choose between tracking books read electronically via cals.beanstack.org or by using a paper log.
- Log-in or sign-up at cals.beanstack.org and add your preschool child as a reader. They can join the 1000 Books program and log books read to earn badges. OR
- CALS will provide log sheets (at the bottom of this page) for each participant.
- Participants can collect a sticker from their local branch for every 100 books read.
- Once 10 stickers are collected, a prize will be given to that participant. Any child from birth to entering kindergarten may participate.
- The program is self-paced; If you wish to keep a paper log, log sheets may be downloaded below or picked up at any CALS branch location.
