Read and Grow > 1000 Books Before Kindergarten

Build Your Baby’s Brain

The Amer­i­can Acad­e­my of Pedi­atrics encour­ages read­ing to babies and young chil­dren. Research shows when par­ents talk, read, and sing with their babies and tod­dlers, con­nec­tions are formed in their brains. These con­nec­tions build lan­guage, lit­er­a­cy, and social-emo­tion­al skills at an impor­tant time in a young child’s development.

DeKalb Coun­ty Pub­lic Library wants to sup­port you in build­ing your baby’s brain.

How does it work?

Reg­is­tra­tion for the 1000 Books Before Kinder­garten pro­gram is now avail­able on Beanstack!

Sign up online through DeKalb Coun­ty Pub­lic Library’s Beanstack page. If your child already has a Beanstack account, sign in, look for the 1000 Books Before Kinder­garten chal­lenge and get start­ed. If you need help reg­is­ter­ing, call your local Library branch for assistance.

Track Your Read­ing– Each time you read a book with your child, record it in your Beanstack account. Read­ers will earn badges as they work towards read­ing 1000 books. Vis­it any of our 23 library branch­es to pick up a 1000 Books Before Kinder­garten par­tic­i­pa­tion kit. Each kit includes a reusable tote bag, free starter book, read­ing log, and read­ing tips and rec­om­men­da­tions. You can also print a fam­i­ly read­ing log.

Read books — even the same book many times — each day with your child and record your progress in your Beanstack account or on the fam­i­ly read­ing log or with the 1000 Books Before Kinder­garten app for iOS or Android devices.

You can do it!

1 book a day for 3 years = 1095 books

3 books a day for 1 year = 1095 books

Look for sto­ry­time pro­grams at your local branch. Books read at sto­ry­time pro­grams count toward your goal of read­ing 1000 books!

Books Before Kinder­garten is sup­port­ed by the DeKalb Library Foun­da­tion. Donate direct­ly to sup­port this initiative.

1000 Books Before Kinder­garten is a reg­is­tered trade­mark of the 1000 Books Foundation.