Kids Summer Reading 2026
Join the Children’s Room for an exciting summer as you Plant a Seed, Read!
Kids entering pre-kindergarten through 5th grade are invited to join us for the 2026 Summer Reading Program featuring programs for kids of all ages focused around our theme of growing, learning, and connecting. Summer Reading starts Monday, June 22 and runs until Friday, August 14.
A farm grows food that nourishes our bodies; a library grows ideas that nourish our minds. Both food and stories connect us to our family, culture, economy, and ecology. The idea of this theme looks at the library as a community table where, instead of food, we feast on ideas. (©2026 iReadⓇ)
Sign Up
Sign up begins on Monday, June 15 for kids entering preK to 5th grade! Kids can also sign up throughout the summer by stopping by the Children’s Desk.
For little ones younger than preK, check out our 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten page for tracking reading throughout the year!
Log Your Reading
The goal is to read every day. You don’t have to read anything specific, you just have to pick something to read that you enjoy. When you read every day, reading becomes a habit and a part of your daily routine. As you read more, you become a more active, engaged, and inquisitive reader.
What reading counts?
ALL OF IT! Reading by yourself; reading with someone else. Listening to an audiobook; listening to someone else reading. Reading magazines. Reading something easy. Reading something hard.
It’s all reading.
Log your daily reading by coloring in a shape on your tracker. There is no counting minutes or books read. You’re not competing to see if you can read the most. The goal is just to read every day, building a habit and growing your world.
Each week that you read every day, you can come into the library and pick up the Plant a Seed button for that week. Try to collect every button of Summer Reading! Readers will also “plant” a flower in our Garden of Readers each week and watch it grow all summer.
Topsfield Fair: Read and Win 2026
This year, we have partnered with the Topsfield Fair and their Read and Win program! The program is open to readers from Grades K to 5th grade. Readers who complete their Summer Reading and check in by August 21 are awarded a Topsfield Fair Prize Package! Each Prize Package includes: 1 Admission Ticket (for readers 8 and over, children under 8 are admitted into the Fair free already), 1 Hot Dog and Drink Voucher that the winner can redeem once they are at the Fair, 2 Ride Tickets, and 1 “Read and Win” Ribbon.
Readers must check in with their complete tracker by August 21. Prize packets must be picked up by September 14.
Join a Community of Readers!
Don’t worry, there’s Summer Reading fun for all ages!
Programs and Activities
Find out about all our summer events and activities on the Events Calendar. Registration is required for some programs. Please check age guidance when signing up for programs.
The Massachusetts Statewide Summer Library Program is funded by the Massachusetts Library System, the Boston Bruins, and the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.
Kids’ Summer Reading programming is sponsored by the Friends of the Melrose Public Library.