Ian, pictured above with Children's Librarian Brandy Hackler (middle) and Library Director Susan Mann (left), completed the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten Program in March. For his hard work, Ian was awarded a backpack full of school supplies and a new book to start him on his kindergarten journey.

1000 Books Before Kindergarten is a nationally recognized non-profit organization that promotes early literacy skill development and parent-child bonding through reading in children ages birth to five. The program is simple: read 1,000 books with your child before they reach kindergarten and keep track of their progress. Research on reading with young children indicates that reading to children helps build language skills, improves social emotional learning, encourages brain development, and improves their chances for academic success upon entering kindergarten.

The Hillsboro Library launched its 1000 books program in 2020 through its Beanstack app. Parents can use the Beanstack app to easily keep a record of their child’s reading progress. To register your child for this program, visit hillsborotx.beanstack.org, or download the free Beanstack app. Create an account and begin recording the books you and your child read together. Parents and children may read 1,000 different books together, or read the same book 1,000 times. If a parent and child read just one book every night, they will finish in three years. Three books a day will see your child finished in just a year.

To make keeping track of how much you read easier, the Beanstack app rewards virtual badges for every 50 books read. For every 100 books your child reads, their name will go on the library’s Tree of Accomplishment located in the children’s library. When your child completes the challenge, by reading all 1,000 books, they will receive a backpack of school supplies and a new book to kick-start their kindergarten adventure. For more information on the benefits of 1000 Books Before Kindergarten visit the library’s website at hillsborotxlibrary.org or call the library at (254) 582-7385.