Family Reading Night - Read Together in Cozy Comfort!

Looking for a way to schedule some togetherness into your family life? It's so important to emphasize reading as a habit in your household. You want your kids to identify reading as a fun and relaxing activity...because it can be! And reading together as a family can be a really lovely way to spend an evening.

For several years now, the Des Plaines Public Library has participated in Family Reading Night, a project of State Librarian Jesse White and the Illinois Center for the Book. This year's Family Reading Night is Thursday, November 21, and here's how you can participate:

Visit the library any time between now and Thursday, November 21 to pick up a Family Reading Night tote bag (while supplies last) at the Youth Services desk on the 2nd floor. Inside the tote bag you will find instant hot chocolate for four, a bag of microwave popcorn to share, bookmarks, and stickers in support of Family Reading Night. When you pick up your family bag (one bag per family), you will be able to select up to three read-aloud favorites from a special collection of stories picked fresh just for this occasion. Already read all the favorites we've selected? Go ahead and roam the stacks of thousands of wonderful books we have all for the taking. Don't forget to check all of your books out on your library card and return them on or before your due date, but the tote bag, hot chocolate, popcorn, bookmarks, and stickers are yours to keep.

Then, of course, make it a habit. Do you read together at breakfast? While shopping at the grocery store? For a little while after school? After dinner? Before bedtime? Whatever time works for you, make sure you put some reading into your day. Just 20 minutes a day will encourage a love of reading and encourage a habit that will offer a lifetime of reading rewards. Let Des Plaines be a city that reads to its kids...every day.