Find Your Reading Superpower

Calgary Public Library’s popular Ultimate Summer Challenge is back, with free summer fun for readers of all ages. This summer-long reading program challenges young families, kids, teens, and adults to track their reading hours and participate in free superhero-themed activities and programs to keep everyone reading and having fun from June 1 to August 31.

Registration is free and opens on June 1 at all Library locations and at calgarylibrary.ca/summer. Participants can look forward to the return of in-person programs and activities at Library locations across Calgary and a range of virtual programming as well.   

“We are so excited to bring the Ultimate Summer Challenge back to locations this year and our staff are busy getting ready to make this our biggest year yet with lots of prizes, programs, location displays, and online fun,” says Kate Schutz, Service Design Lead at Calgary Public Library. “We expect more than 20,000 kids, teens, and adults to sign up and discover why reading is a superpower.”  

This year the Challenge is open to adults as well as kids and teens. Everyone who registers for the Ultimate Summer Challenge is entered to win great prizes. Each age group will have their own set of unique prizes, including activity kit subscriptions, personalized books, iPads, Nintendo Switches, Chromebooks, gift baskets for book lovers, and more. Participants will also have the opportunity to enter additional weekly prize draws throughout the summer on top of the grand prize draws.   

Ultimate Summer Challenge is filled with fun and games, but it also provides important support for young readers at a crucial time in reading skills development. “Participating in the Ultimate Summer Challenge can help kids maintain reading skills gained throughout the school year. Without regular reading practice in the summer, some kids are at risk of up to three months of literacy loss. At Calgary Public Library we are serious about fostering a love for reading and learning and we are equally serious about it being fun, too!” says Schutz.   

Starting June 1, Challenge maps can be picked up at Library locations or downloaded at online and printed at home. Kids can also track their reading online using the free Library app Beanstack. 

The Challenge is part of the TD Summer Reading Club, which is a national program for kids in Canadian public libraries. The Ultimate Summer Challenge is presented by J K L MacLachlan Family Fund.