North Texas Daily

Denton Public Library has brought back the Winter Reading Resolution program, an online reading tracker designed to strengthen reading habits of Denton citizens in the coming year.

The program, which began in 2019, will run from Jan. 1 to Feb. 28 and is open to all ages. Participants who read three or more books earn an electronic certificate and will be entered into a drawing for prizes.

“We just want to encourage everyone to read,” said Rebecca Ivey, the branch manager at the North Branch Library. “We just want to encourage everyone to sign up and participate.”

The Winter Reading Resolution program is one of many projects created by the Denton Public Library that promote reading. While programs like the Winter Reading Resolution are made for all ages, others are aimed at specific age groups, such as the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program.

“Our biggest goal is to get people excited about books, get them talking about books and reading and telling us what they are doing,” said Stacey Irish-Keffer, the Adult Services librarian at the North Branch Library. “We are sending out lists on our social media with different kinds of books that people can read and just trying to really engage them in reading for fun.”

The Winter Reading Resolution program was created to mirror the Summer Reading Challenge, another yearly initiative that has existed for around 30 years at the library. Currently, the Summer Reading Challenge is more successful than the Winter Reading Resolution program, but Irish-Keffer predicts growth in the coming years.

“It’s a little smaller, it’s a little less engaged because it hasn’t been around as long,” Irish-Keffer said. “So we are hoping over the next couple of years we will be able to encourage people to pay attention and get them excited to read, and it will grow and be on par with our Summer Reading program.”

The success of the programs is aided by the Denton Public Library’s usage of READsquared, a library program used by other cities in the metroplex, such as Irving and Carrollton. Ivey said the library is able to promote its programs more successfully with the online service.

“Naturally it incentivizes people to want to start reading more, and it might be a good intro, at the very least, to get back into reading,” said Ryan Martin, an integrated studies freshman at the university.

The programs at Denton Public Library also affect students on campus. Madison Brents, the student and program specialist for the Access Services Department at Willis Library, said the programs inspire the events done at campus libraries.

“I love all the events that Denton Public Library puts on,” Brents said. “In our department, we try to think of events we can do to get readers more engaged in our materials.”

During the pandemic, the early success of the Winter Reading Resolution stalled. In July 2020, Kimberly West, the branch manager at Emily Fowler Central Library, told the Denton Record-Chronicle “providing [citizens] access to information is our most critical mission.” However, due to the restrictions in place, the programs were not nearly as successful.

Currently, the number of people enrolled in the Winter Reading Resolution program is 182, which is over half of the total from last year, according to data from the Denton Public Library. With over a month left in the project, library employees hope Dentonites engage with the program as it grows.

“Even from last year to this year, we’ve seen more engagement,” Irish-Keffer said. “We’re only halfway through. We’re hoping by the end of February we will have more people than last year.”

More information can be found at your local library or at Denton Public Library’s READsquared website.

“We want [people] to keep reading even as adults — we want them to read for fun and learn new things,” Irish-Keffer said.

Featured Image Signs for the winter reading resolution hang in the Denton Public Library on Jan. 24, 2022. Photo by Maria Crane