Home / Youth Services / Outreach & Family Engagement / Idaho Family Reading Week 2024

Illustration of various Idaho landscapes, including a city skyline, mountains, farmland, and a river with the text 2023 Idaho Family Reading Week: Art is All Around Us, November 6-12, 2023

2024 Official Program Dates: November 4 – 10

Registration Dates: September 16 – October 15 (or until filled)

2024 Program Overview

Vroom! Vroom! This fall, Idaho Family Reading Week (FRW) is all about TRANSPORTATION! Kids young and old love cars, planes, trains, boats, motorcycles, skateboards, horses . . . all things that go! Get ready to dive into the “transportation” theme with the matching slogan: “Rev Up Your Reading!” While you are still in the thick of things with Summer Learning, let this year’s FRW theme and activity ideas begin to percolate to the front of your minds in July and August.

As usual, the ICfL will provide additional themed materials to the first 100 Idaho libraries that register their FRW events via the event form from September 16 – October 15. The ICfL will provide themed, give-away paperback books, custom activity booklets, and bookmarks. The rest is up to you and your library staff – and the sky is the limit! The ICfL focuses the program theme, materials, and supplies on kids aged pre-K through 6th or 7th grade, but library staff are welcome to incorporate books and activities for older kids or teens on your own.

The primary objectives of the Idaho Family Reading Week program are:

  • To emphasize the importance of daily family/caregiver reading time and its support of early childhood literacy.
  • To connect families/caregivers of young children with the early literacy resources their local public, school, or tribal libraries have available to help them prepare their child for education success.
  • To help every family/caregiver obtain a public library card and visit a public, school, and/or tribal library

By applying for the Idaho Family Reading Week program, the library agrees to:

  • host at least 1 family reading/literacy event (preferably through via an in-person event; virtual delivery methods are acceptable as needed) by November 30, 2024 (event does NOT have to be Nov 4-10 only; can be anytime in the month of November); NOTE: The primary literacy activity should NOT be the viewing of a movie with children. It can be part of the program offerings, but it should not be the core element.
  • promote library programming/resources and library cards/library access for all families/children;
  • connect with parents and caregivers about the many free resources your library can offer them in support of literacy;
  • submit a summary event report including numbers served, narrative responses and program/resource feedback by December 15, 2024 (You can preview the report questions below.)

Program Overview for 2024:

  • We have the capacity to serve 100 Idaho libraries. Public, school, and tribal libraries may register for this program. School libraries are encouraged to partner with an applying public library and submit one registration form for a joint event. If the local public library cannot partner, the school library may apply on their own. We want to serve as many children/families as possible so we encourage community collaboration and discourage duplicate requests.
  • Program Registration: approx. September 16 – until filled  (based on a first-come, first served protocol; it will remain open until filled or until we reach the closing date)
  • Libraries that register will receive: Paperback give-away books for participating children ages birth – 7th grade, ICfL-created transportation-themed activity booklets (one for ages preK – 3rd and one for grades 4th – 7th), bookmarks, access to the themed artwork/graphics, marketing collateral, Google slides of activity ideas and educational links, a sample storytime outline, and a recommended reading list/handout based on the FRW theme.
  • Libraries that are unable to register before we reach our maximum capacity of 100 libraries: You can still offer the program with the help of our free, downloadable marketing collateral, the Google slides of resources and ideas, recommended reading lists, and the activity booklets (you print on your own). You may also consider if your event meets the requirements of the “Library Outreach for Children” program.

  • Aug 1 – Aug 31: Idaho FRW website updated with the new art, themed activities, handouts, and other resources. FRW registration form posted for preview before opening for submission.
  • Sept 4: Informational Session about this year’s FRW theme and resources. Time and Zoom link TBD (recording will be posted to the webpage afterwards)
  • Sept 16: Idaho FRW Registration opens! (closes when registration hits 100 libraries)
  • Oct 1 – Oct 15: ICfL begins mailing out requested materials to registered libraries. Libraries who do not register before we hit capacity can use all program art, activity templates and other resources listed on the FRW website without registering.
  • November: Idaho FRW events held – any day in November or during week of Nov 4-10 (the official week of FRW).  FRW coincides with the national Children’s Book Week organized by Every Child a Reader (check out their program resources as well).
  • December 15: Idaho FRW event summary reports due to ICfL for all participating libraries

Want to learn more about Idaho Family Reading Week 2024 and our “Rev Up Your Reading” theme BEFORE registration opens?

ICfL provided virtual info session about FRW 2024 on Wednesday, September 4.

You can find the recording here.

2024 Program Resources:

For our “Rev Up Your Reading” theme, ICfL will provide each registered library (first 100) with the following items:

Paperback Books (examples)

Activity Booklet: Pre-K – 3rd

Activity Booklet: 4th – 7th

Bookmarks (examples)

Didn’t register your library for FRW 2024 in time?

Idaho libraries who do not register in time for one of the 100 spots may still offer a FRW event and use the following ICfL-developed material for free:

  • Idaho Family Reading Week themed artwork: downloadable posters/flyers, Facebook/website banners, letterhead, proclamation and press release templates;
  • Google Choice Boards full of related resources, educator guides, and lots of ideas for extension activities;
  • Themed activity booklets by age-groups can be downloaded (pdf’s) from this page and printed in-house by your library for participant distribution;
  • Idaho Digital E-Book Alliance (IDEA) e-book list created specifically for FRW;
  • Recommended themed reading lists and parent handouts that support early literacy skills and are related to the “transportation” theme.

Resources & Ideas

FRW Google Slides

ICfL’s Youth Services staff members are gathering literacy and transportation-themed resources to share with you via Google Slides to further help you plan your library’s FRW event. Check back here for more resources at the end of July!

Each year, ICfL provides related literacy materials to registered FRW libraries. These materials for FRW participants can be requested when you register your library for FRW (more detail is provided on the Jotform request form).

Library staff, consider requesting and distributing these additional themed resources to your youth participants at one or more of you Family Reading Week 2024 events:

  1. Paperback Book Bundles: Transportation-themed for children/family participants (ages 0 – 13). Bundle sizes vary from 50 (small), 80 (medium), and 100 (large). Bundle sizes will be recommended by library size. English/Spanish bilingual books will also be available.
  2. Activity Booklets: Custom created/printed activity booklets with drawing, writing, and reading prompts centered around transportation. One booklet for ages preK – 3rd grade (7,000 copies available) & one booklet for ages 4th – 7th grade (4,000 copies available). Limits will be recommended by library size. A Spanish translation will be available as an insert to each activity book. (See a preview of the activity booklets on the “Activity Ideas and Themed  Handouts” tab.)
  3. Coloring Bookmarks: Transportation-themed bookmarks for participants. Limit 100 per library branch.

Download and utilize themed “Rev Up Your Reading” artwork designed by ICfL to promote your Idaho Family Reading Week event. Each piece of FRW artwork comes in English & Spanish, various sizes, some with FRW dates already included, some without dates, and some Word doc posters/flyers that leaves a customizable section at the bottom for your library’s use.

Print Materials

Digital Materials

Individual Art Assets:

Public Announcement Info

  • Sample Idaho Family Reading Week – 2024 Proclamation (to share with your local media, partners, local government)
  • Sample Idaho Family Reading Week – 2024 Press Release (customizable for your library)

Five Early Literacy Skills handouts  – library can download/print themselves or order from ICfL via “ICfL Market”:

Talking is Teaching handouts – a national literacy information campaign:

Fostering Readers website – “Helping you plan fun, research-based literacy activities for children in K-3rd grade”

Check out all the great resources and ideas at:  https://fosteringreaders.weebly.com 

Event planning tips and ideas for a successful Idaho Family Reading Week event:

Program Registration for All Libraries:

Opens on September 16th, 2024!

Summary Report:

Due by December 15th, 2024!

Idaho Family Reading Week Archives

Looking for great program ideas and activities?

Check out the Idaho Family Reading Week archives.

Questions?

Primary Contact: Kristina Taylor, Outreach & Community Engagement Consultant

Secondary Contact: Josephine Bradford, Youth Services Program Specialist

Kristina Taylor

Kristina Taylor

Outreach & Community Engagement Consultant
Email / 208-639-4136
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