It’s time to “Read Your Way Across the USA” in 2021 at Schmaling! We have a big challenge for you this year. We want you to read your way all across the 3.797 million square miles of the USA! Sounds daunting, doesn’t it? Not so much!

Here’s how this works: We’re encouraging Schmaling patrons of all ages (a valid Schmaling library card is required to participate –parents may not use a child’s card to participate but children without their own library card may use a parent’s card to participate) to take a journey all across these great United States by reading a book of your choice (fiction or non-fiction) about or set in each of the 50 states (in no particular order) between now and the end of the year (50 books, wow!). Sign up for the program by calling us (815-589-2045), emailing us (fulpublib@mchsi.com), or even Facebook messaging us. You can print the log sheets from our website or you can request paper copies that you can pick up at the library.

For each book you read that fits the parameters of the challenge, log the title and the author of the book on your Participant Log Sheet under the state it represents. Turn in your Participant Log Sheet to the library when you’ve completed the challenge and win a Schmaling Library T-Shirt. (Log Sheets will be accepted through end of business on Jan. 8, 2022). Read 3 bonus books set in or about Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and Guam and receive not just the Schmaling Library T-Shirt, but also a $5 gift card. All books logged should be at the participant’s reading/interest level. (Sorry, parents, you cannot log that picturebook you just read to your 4-year-old for yourself! But please do log it for your child!)