Youth in Jefferson are encouraged to stay active with literacy this winter season with a program from the Jefferson Public Library.

Youth Services Librarian Bailey Mount says the Winter Wonderland Reading Challenge is “Alice in Wonderland” inspired and includes three age groups, from newborns to six year olds, seven to 12 years and those who are 13 to 18.  She tells Raccoon Valley Radio that unlike the Summer Reading Program, the Winter Reading Challenge is more streamlined and less in-person activities and program driven.

“We’re really taking into account family schedules, safety, winter travel conditions, things like that. So we’re designing it to work on their schedule at their own pace.” 

However, Mount notes that each age group will have their own challenges that participants can achieve, which will result in working towards a larger goal of an end of the season party. She feels that the Winter Reading Challenge has a good balance of reading books from the library, as well as using online resources with the library for reading as well.

“If we get one kid who is just really excited to read like an e-book over, and over, and over again that’s fine. The point is we’re building that literacy and we’re getting them to engage with books and we’re getting them to engage with books in a different format.” 

Mount details that the Winter Wonderland Reading Challenge also features some “Alice in Wonderland” activities, such as a Cheshire Cat look and find in the Youth Department and a White Rabbit scavenger hunt on the library’s website. The Challenge runs until February 13th and anyone can sign up at any time.