Mayor Deegan's River City Readers

Less than half of 3rd graders are reading on grade level, so improving literacy rates is a top priority for Mayor Deegan and her administration. It’s an economic development issue, a public safety issue, and a quality-of-life issue for the entire city.

Let’s get DUUUVAL reading! Mayor Deegan’s River City Readers is a citywide literacy challenge for school aged children that will run through 2024.

Join the Reading Challenge

Mayor Deegan challenges all of Jacksonville to download a free app called Beanstack. Through this app, children and their caregivers will be able to log their reading minutes with an individual goal of reading at least 20 minutes per day, and a citywide goal of reading ONE MILLION minutes over the next 365 days. At the end of the year, the city’s top young readers will be given prizes!

DOWNLOAD THE BEANSTACK APP:

Go to the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. Download and open the Beanstack Tracker app.

REGISTER FOR THE RIVER CITY READERS CHALLENGE:

Open the app and choose At my library, school or bookstore.
Using the Find a Site search bar, type Jax Library or River City Readers
Select Jax Library River City Readers (FL).
At the bottom of screen, you’ll see Don’t have an account? Select Sign up!
Select No when asked if you have previously used Beanstack with Jacksonville Public Library.
Create an account by adding an email and creating a password. Select Continue.
Add your First and Last Name and select Continue.
Add a Phone Number and Zip Code. (This is optional.) Select Continue.
Choose a Library.
Your account is created! You can add additional information about yourself or add additional readers.
Now you're ready to start tracking your reading minutes, earning achievements and badges, and completing activities.

You can also register and log your reading minutes on the Beanstack website at https://jaxpl.beanstack.com.

LOG YOUR READING MINUTES:

Go to the Beanstack app.
The Home screen has a summary of your reading activities.
To log time read, touch the plus sign in the green button at the bottom of the screen.
Touch the Reading button to log time spent reading.
If you have more than one reader in your account, you will be prompted to choose the reader you are logging for.
Choose your logging method.
When logging by book title, if you only know part of the title, you can choose Search for a Title and enter what you know.
Touch the title that you want to log.
If you want to track your reading progress as you progress through a book, keep the Track progress button on. If you would like to only add minutes read to your log, turn off the Track progress button.

Upcoming Events

The Mayor will conduct monthly literacy events throughout 2024 - and beyond - at schools, libraries, and community centers, to promote the importance of literacy. She will also employ a branded book mobile and take it throughout the city for events.

Summer Reading Kick Off

Saturday, June 8, 2024
Ed Austin Regional Park
11751 McCormick Rd.
Jacksonville, FL 32225

Join Mayor Donna Deegan, the Jacksonville Public Library, and a host of literacy advocates and exhibitors for the Summer Reading Kick Off at Ed Austin Park from 8-11AM. Mayor Deegan discuss River City Readers, distribute books and backpacks, and meet and greet attendees.

Become a Sponsor!

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor for Mayor Deegan's River City Readers, please contact us at rivercityreaders@coj.net.