A dinosaur costume, stacks of books and a table of sign-up forms have become a common sight this summer at Valley libraries as staff work to reverse a national drop in daily pleasure reading among young children. The Maricopa County Library District’s Summer Reading Game, running this year under the dinosaur-themed title “Unearth a Story,” awards participants points for each minute they read and for attending library events, and staff report growing interest across multiple branches.
Library staff register a child at the 'Unearth a Story' summer reading table — Phoenix libraries' dinosaur-themed effort to combat the summer reading slump.
“I just like them getting exposed to reading,” said Astra Pfeiffer, a Mesa Public Library regular whose children have been enrolled in the program for years. For Pfeiffer, the appeal is straightforward: time spent with books enhances young readers’ minds and expands their educational opportunities. Families like hers are signing up online under individual or family accounts and logging minutes to earn points toward prizes.
The game, available to all ages though clearly aimed at drawing children, awards one point per minute of reading and additional points for attending library programs. Up to 1,000 points can be earned through a combination of reading and participation, and prizes — which vary by location — are redeemed in person at local branches. Libraries purchase supplemental rewards to pair with county-level prizes, and those incentives can include items ranging from free books to zoo tickets, depending on the library’s offerings.
A parade of dinosaurs through the stacks became a lively public-relations moment for the program during a recent event where a staff member donned a costume to promote “Unearth a Story.” Children laughed and followed the dinosaur through the library, a scene librarians say helps entice families to linger in air-conditioned spaces while choosing books and asking for reading recommendations. “The way their faces lit up and got excited was so cool to see,” said Stacey Akahoshi, a Mesa Public Library librarian, who noted that the experience around programs often drives participation as much as the reading incentive itself.
Akahoshi also said participation has climbed significantly since the pandemic. In what the article described as the Mesa district, there are 12,376 registered summer reading participants so far this year — a 3% increase from last year. Additional branches across the Phoenix metropolitan area report similar patterns: more patrons checking out books, larger turnouts at youth events and higher registration numbers than in recent years.
At Glendale Public Library, branch manager Kiyoshi Parke said circulation remains robust and that requests for new titles continue to come in steadily. Parke, who began her position in 2021, said she has seen participation in Summer Reading Games increase since then. “Even though people think the written word may be dead or it's dying … our book circulation is just as strong as it's ever been, and we get requests for new books all the time,” she said, adding that staff enthusiasm and word-of-mouth promotion contribute to steady interest.
Youth librarians at other Valley branches echoed those observations. Brittany Parkhouse, youth services librarian at Chandler Public Library, said she has noticed more children checking out books and returning to claim rewards earned through the program. “You see the excitement on their face when they come in to get their coupons, and they're seeing the importance of their work paying off,” Parkhouse said. Library staff credit a combination of fewer rules for what counts as reading — allowing graphic novels, interactive formats and other nontraditional choices — and clear incentives that make reading feel like an achievable game rather than a chore.
National data offer a sobering backdrop to the local surge. The National Literacy Trust declared an official literary crisis in 2024, and statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics show a long-term decline in daily leisure reading among young children: 37% of 9-year-olds read for pleasure almost every day in recent measures, down from 53% in 1984. Libraries across Phoenix and the surrounding communities are responding with programs that pair entertainment and practical rewards to help reverse that trend. A Mesa librarian recounted an instance of a child who began the summer uninterested in reading but, after exposure to graphic novels and Choose Your Own Adventure titles at library events, told staff reading had become preferable to playing Minecraft.
A parent reads with a young child on a colorful periodic-table rug during a Phoenix library summer program encouraging early reading.
The Summer Reading Game has been run online since 2013, allowing participants to log minutes and track progress from home before visiting branches to claim physical rewards. Library leaders say the blend of digital tracking, in-person programming and tangible incentives has broadened the appeal beyond traditional book-centric families and helped boost traffic, registrations and circulation during summer months. Staff at multiple libraries described the current season as one of steady growth in engagement, with programming and incentives designed to draw children — and their caregivers — back into libraries for reading, events and resources.
Maricopa County's 65 libraries are uniting with a goal of 103 million minutes read this summer, according to maricopacountyreads.org and the Peoria Public Library System. New this year, participants can set personal goals past 1,000 points and earn bonuses by finding secret codes during community experiences across the Valley.
Pre-registration for Maricopa County Reads opened May 1, and participants can log reading minutes and activities from June 1 through July 20, 2026, with the program running during that period.
The program is officially open to all ages with defined categories—pre-readers (4 and under), kids (5–11), teens (12–17) and adults (18+)—and participants earn points for minutes spent with physical books, ebooks and audiobooks (including graphic novels); digital badges are also awarded for completing challenges and entering secret codes found at events and community experiences.
County-wide materials list 65 participating libraries and a community goal of 103 million minutes, but some local city announcements (for example Chandler’s) reported a slightly different community goal of 110 million minutes and counted 63 libraries, a minor discrepancy among promotional materials.