JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The City of Jacksonville hosted an event for children ages 5-12 and their families at the Main Library in honor of “Celebrate Reading Week.”
This event was part of a year-long citywide challenge to improve literacy rates among school-aged children.
Mayor Donna Deegan launched a River City Readers Challenge back in January to encourage more children to read across the city.
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Now, the city is looking to boost literacy rates even more and Saturday’s event is just one example of the strategies they’re using to reach that goal.
The Main Library downtown was packed with hundreds of families.
The city set a new 1-million-minute reading goal after hitting the 300,000-minute goal just over a month.
To motivate families to participate, they were encouraged to dress as a character from their favorite book and enjoy free books. Attendees also received a free backpack and lunch.
Mayor Deegan plans to hold literacy events every month throughout the year.