🌱 2026 Summer Reading: Plant a Seed, Read🌻

This summer, Nesmith Library is excited to Plant a Seed, Read during our 2026 Summer Reading Program! Summer Reading 2026 promotional image of a worm under an open book placed like a tent, with flowers surrounding.

Every year, the Summer Reading Program is packed with events, performances, raffles, and activities for children, teens, and adults. We're rooting for you to dig in! Check our event calendar for dates and times!

We've got three Summer Reading Programs in Beanstack. Curious which one to sign up for? Here’s the age groups for each: 

  • Children's Summer Reading: Ages Birth–12
  • Teen Summer Reading: Grades 7–12
  • Adult Summer Reading: Ages 16+

We know there's some overlap in those groups, but that's part of the fun! Sign up for the program that fits you best. We just ask that you only sign up for one.

🌸 How to Join Summer Reading

Registration opens June 22 on Beanstack! Let's get growing.

It's easy to get started:

  • Register on Beanstack:

    • Use the Beanstack website or download the app.

    • Sign up with an email and password and choose the reading challenge for your age group.

    • Parents and caregivers: You can register children under your account and join the Adult program, too!

  • Visit the library to pick up your registration bag (while supplies last).

  • Returning participant? If you've used Beanstack with us before, no need to start from scratch! Just log in with your existing username and password and select this year's challenge.

🌹 Read and Explore

This summer is all about bingo! Each age group will have a bingo card in Beanstack packed with activities and reading goals to keep you growing all summer long.

Here's how it works:

  1. Register for your age group's Summer Reading through Beanstack.
  2. Visit the Badges tab to check off completed activities and earn raffle tickets. There's a lot to explore!
  3. Attend events all summer. Some might just earn you a badge in Beanstack!
    1. Check our Event Calendar and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or subscribe to our email newsletter to stay in the loop. 

Looking for your next great read? Request a Mystery Bag and a librarian will curate a surprise selection just for you. Consider it a little literary seed packet!

🎟️ Earn Prizes

As you read and complete activities, you'll earn raffle tickets in Beanstack. The more you grow, the more chances to win!

  • Prizes are available to Nesmith Library cardholders only.
  • The big prize drawings take place at the end of the summer.
  • Smaller prizes bloom all summer long, from weekly raffles for kids to program door prizes. You never know when you might win something!
  • Some events require registration and may be limited to Nesmith Library cardholders or Windham residents. If you live in Windham, stop by to sign up for a free library card!

😎 Children's Summer Reading

The Smart Cookie by Pete Oswald and Jory John pushing a red wheelbarrow filled with soil and purple flowers.

CSP DETAILS GO HERE. Weekly prizes? 

We know some of you might want to track your reading too. We've turned on reading logs in Beanstack for those interested! Note that the optional reading log does not earn raffle tickets.

🕶️ Teen Summer Reading

Two badgers reading a large open book together, surrounded by illustrated leaves, with vegetable illustrations visible on the book's cover. Illustration by Hatem Aly. Good news: the Teen SRP Prize Cabinet is back and fully stocked. We're still offering the chance to earn Book Bucks!

  • Write a short review (2–3 sentences) of a reading-level appropriate book.
  • Complete a Book Buck with your info and submit it to a librarian.

  • Pick a prize, and your Book Buck goes into our end-of-summer raffle!
     

    Think of it as harvesting the rewards of your reading all summer long.
     

👨‍🦳 Adult Summer Reading

An adult reading inside a tent made from an open yellow book, surrounded by large illustrated plants and flowers, with a small sleeping cat resting on top of the book. Illustration by Sarah Ferone.Not a smartphone user? Don’t have an email address? That’s okay! You can still dig in and participate.

Adults who need to keep it analog can register in person and mark off their activities on a paper bingo sheet:

  • Visit the front desk to sign up.
  • Fill out raffle slips as you finish books and place them in our raffle baskets.
  • Winners will be drawn from both digital and paper participants.

No device required. Just you, some books, and good soil for new ideas.

🤝 Thank You to Our Sponsors

A big thank you to the Friends of the Library of Windham (FLOW) for sponsoring our performers and big events and helping us plant some reading seeds this summer. We couldn't do it without them!

The many amazing local organizations who donate to our Summer Reading Program. Thanks to their generosity, we’re able to provide many of our fabulous Summer Reading Prizes! 

Thank you to all our sponsors, including:

  • Kendall Pond Pizza 
  • Canobie Lake Park 
  • Culinary Playground 
  • Great NH Restaurants
  • Trader Joe’s 
  • Currier Museum 

And more! 

Circular badge for the "Plant a Seed, Read" 2026 Summer Reading Program featuring an earthworm reading an open teal book surrounded by wildflowers including black-eyed Susans and a coneflower, with white text on a dark brown border.