1000 Books Before Kindergarten

Reading with your baby, toddler, or preschooler is one of the best ways to help them become a lifelong reader. Taking part in our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program encourages family bonding while your child develops the skills they'll need to succeed in school.

The Goal

Read 1000 books with your child before they start kindergarten.

That may seem like a big number, but you've got plenty of time. If you read one book each day with your child, that's 1095 books after three years. Reading three books each day will get you to 1095 books in only one year. (And yes, reading a favorite book over and over counts toward your goal!)

How to Take Part

Register

To register for the program, create an account for your family on the library's Beanstack online resource. Be sure to add your child as a reader, and set their grade level to "Babies and Toddlers" or "Preschoolers." If you need help registering, visit the Youth Services department at your local library.

Read

Spend time reading with your child. Books your child reads with siblings, preschool teachers, or at library story times can also help reach the 1000 book goal.

If you need good books to read, start with these suggestions from the 1000 Books Foundation. You'll find more ideas on our Read Together page, or you can ask a librarian for books that match your child's age and interests.

Track Your Reading

Use your Beanstack account to log the books your family reads.

You can also record the books you read on a paper tracking sheet you can pick up at the library or download and print, opens a new window. Once your tracking sheet is full, bring it to the Youth Services department of your local library for help logging your books.

Earn Badges & Prizes

Your child will earn an online badge in Beanstack every time they reach a milestone on the way to their 1000 books goal.

Each time your child reaches a hundred book milestone in their reading log, they'll earn a prize. After reading all 1000 books, they'll earn a prize pack and a certificate. Your family can pick up earned prizes from the Youth Services department at your library.

Related FAQs

  • Sign into your Beanstack account, and click the "Log Reading and Activities" button near the top left.

    Select the reader you'd like to log for, or choose "All Readers" if your whole family read a book together.

    Select whether you'd like to log your reading by "Books" or "Minutes." (If you're logging for the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program, be sure to choose "Books.")

    Fill in the information on the next screen. You can leave the title and author blank if you'd like.

    Click the "Log" button.

    If you read several books, you can choose to log them all at the same time.

  • Yes. Follow the instructions for logging books in Beanstack, but be sure to leave the title and author blank. Instead, just enter the total number of books read in the "How many times was this book read?" box.

    For example, if your family sat down for a reading session and finished eight different books, you could simply put "8" in the "How many times was this book read?" box to log them all at once. These books will show up as "Logged A Book, But No Title" in your Beanstack reading log.

  • Of course. Rereading a book is great way to help children recognize certain words like "cat" or "run."

  • It depends on how often you read to your child. The program is self-paced. It can take anywhere from a few months to a few years.

  • Any child who hasn't entered kindergarten yet can sign up for the program.

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