Teen Summer Library Club
Summer Challenges, Activities & Categories
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What are Summer Challenges, Activities, and Categories?
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Summer Challenges are things you can do at home or in the library to earn Bonus prizes.
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Activities are non-reading things that can be done in the library as part of the Summer Library Club. They are just for fun, and don't earn you any bonus prizes.
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Categories reward reading specific genres, themes, and formats, and double-dipping is allowed.
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How does double-dipping work? If you listen to the digital audio book of Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood, it can be listed as a Read Along and Level Up.
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Visiting the Library and attending Library events are great ways to spend the summer. The more you visit, or the more events you attend, the more bonus prizes you can earn.
How to Log Summer Challenges, Categories, and Library Visits:
In the Reader Zone app, swipe to the Summer Challenges or Visit the Library groups, confirm YES to work towards a bonus prize. For Category entries, add the book to your Book Bank.
On the Reader Zone desktop site, click the Add Entry button in the upper right corner of the page. Select the appropriate log in the drop down list. For the Summer Challenges or Visit the Library groups, confirm YES to work towards a bonus prize. For Category entries, add the book to your Book Bank.
Summer Challenges
To access the links for Battle of the Books and the Weekly Polls while in the Reader Zone app, tap the 🛈 icon in the upper left corner of the group description.
For a printable version of the Summer Challenges Description, go to tinyurl.com/MPLTeen-Summer-Challenges
2025 Scavenger Hunts: There are 3 Scavenger Hunts in the library just for teens this summer, as well as Mr. Mark's scavenger hunts. These scavenger hunts will each be available for a limited time.
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Roll a Scavenger Hunt: Roll a pair of dice to determine what you have to find! Can be repeated multiple times. Available starting June 30. Worth 1/5 of a prize. Complete another 4 challenges to earn a prize. This challenge can be repeated.
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Pokémon Scavenger Hunt: Find the Legendary Pokémon hiding around the 3rd Floor. Available July 14-August 2. Worth 1/5 of a prize. Complete another 4 challenges to earn a prize.
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Sports Scavenger Hunt: Find various pieces of sports equipment hiding around the 3rd floor and identify which sport it belongs to. Available August 4-August 16. Worth 1/5 of a prize. Complete another 4 challenges to earn a prize.
Battle of the Book: There will be 4 rounds of voting to determine a winner from the most checked-out YA Books of 2024-2025! Voting can be done in the Teen Room on the 3rd Floor, or online. You can vote once per round.
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Round 1 begins June 30
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Quarter Finals begin July 7
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Semi Finals begin July 21
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Finals begin August 4
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Winner announced August 16.
Each round is worth 1/5 of a prize. Complete another 4 challenges to earn a prize.
Weekly Discussions: Participate in weekly lighthearted and fun discussions on Padlet where you share your favorites, ideas, and more. Begins June 30. Each poll you participate in is worth 1/5 of a prize. Complete another 4 challenges to earn a prize.
Build a Puzzle: Complete a jigsaw puzzle with at least 100 pieces. Share a photo after logging your YES. Worth 1/5 of a prize. Complete another 4 challenges to earn a prize. This challenge can be repeated with different puzzles.
Play a Board Game: Play a board game with family or friends. Worth 1/5 of a prize. Complete another 4 challenges to earn a prize. This challenge can be repeated with different games.
Take a Shelfie: It's a selfie, but for your bookshelf! Share the photo after logging your YES. Worth 1/5 of a prize. Complete another 4 challenges to earn a prize.
Pay it Forward: Perform a random act of kindness, big or small, or spend 1 hour volunteering! Worth 1/5 of a prize. Complete another 4 challenges to earn a prize. This challenge can be repeated.
Activities
Activities are intended as fun things to do in the library. They do not count towards bonus prizes. However, your visit to the library does!
This year, there will be:
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Various summer & "Level Up At Your Library" themed puzzles available in the Teen Room, including word searches, mazes, and sudoku. The type of puzzle will change each week!
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Game & Fandom themed coloring pages.
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Lined paper for writing your own stories and blank paper for original artwork.
Categories
Read a book (or anything) in any or all of the following categories and log the book to earn bonus prizes. Each category counts as a separate prize entry, and double dipping is allowed (Ex: Audio book version of Divergent - Submit it for Read Along and Now a Major Motion Picture!) Add the title to your Book Bank. For each additional category, or if it is also earning you prizes for being a Teen Choice Book Award nominee, mark it as being read again. Each category is worth 1/5 of a prize. Log entries that fit within 4 more categories to earn a prize. Each category can be repeated.
For a printable version of the Categories descriptions, go to https://tinyurl.com/MPLTeen-Summer-Categories
Level Up: Read a book about sports or games. This include fiction and nonfiction books about football, baseball, and other popular sports, chess and scrabble, video games, or RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons. A list of Level Up titles is coming soon.
Based on a Book/Now a Major Motion Picture: Watch a movie, mini series, or at least 3 episodes of a TV series based on a book (video games count, too) OR read a book or listen to an audio book that has been turned into a movie, mini series, television show, or video game. Book spin-offs from films and television shows count. Ex: Slayer by Kiersten White, set in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe or the Star Wars expanded universe titles. A list of Page-to-Screen titles is coming soon.
Read Along: Listen to an audio book this summer! Audio books on CD can be found on a spinner in the Teen Room, or you can find digital audiobooks on the Libby app.
New Book: Read a book or listen to an audio book found on the New Books shelves anywhere in the Maynard Library or anywhere else - like another library, the Silver Unicorn Bookstore in Acton, Amazon, Target - so long as it's labeled "NEW" or was published in 2024 or 2025.
New-to-You: Try something new! This can mean trying a new format, such as graphic novels or audio books, a new author, or a new genre. You aren't limited to books! Try a new video game format, or watch something new on tv.
Nonfiction: Read or listen to a nonfiction title or watch a documentary.
Short Stories: Read or listen to a collection of short stories or essays. They're great for when you want to read something but don't have a lot of time, or if you want to read a bunch of stories about the same theme! Look for the "Short Stories" sticker when browsing in the library.
Visit the Library/Attend a Library Event
The library can be a summer destination, too! There are the obvious books - we ARE a library - that you can read anywhere in the building, no library card required. But did you know we have board games, tables for working on summer homework, comfy chairs for reading or scrolling through social media, free wi-fi and air conditioning, puzzles, coloring supplies... in short, there's plenty to do. And that's before you consider all the events happening. Not just the Friday Movie Matinees, but the summer concert, author visits, and craft programs.
You can find the full Calendar of Events here.
Every visit or event attended is worth 1/2 a prize. Visit the library 2 times to earn a bonus prize.