Readers log record-breaking year in Library’s summer reading challenge

Readers log record-breaking year in Library's summer reading challenge

Published on August 17, 2026

Readers registered in the Fort Worth Public Library's Mayor's Summer Reading Challenge logged a record-breaking 5,773,920 minutes in 2026, a 32% increase from 2025.

Readers read an average of 990 minutes per person, a 51% increase from 2025.

Additionally, the Library saw a 31% increase in registrations for children ages 0-5, an encouraging sign as the Library increases its focus on early literacy and helping families build reading skills.

"Seeing more of our youngest readers in the Mayor's Summer Reading Challenge brings me so much joy," Library Director Midori Clark said. "It shows that families are invested in their children's growth and that they see the Library as a partner, too."

More young Spanish-speakers signed up for the challenge, a 56% increase for ages 0-12 compared to 2025.

The Library is set to launch a new suite of early literacy-forward programs in Fall 2026 - one of which is Together to Kinder, a play-based workshop designed for caregivers and their preschool children to build school readiness.

The annual challenge encourages readers of all ages to read as much as they can, however they can. Books, e-books, audiobooks, library story times and other forms of reading all count toward participants' reading minutes.

What Fort Worth read

Readers logged thousands of books throughout the challenge, but there were some that rose to the top.

The top 10 reads of the challenge include:

• The Holy Bible - King James Version (383 times)
• "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" by J.K. Rowling (252 times)
• "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney (233 times)
• "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir (193 times)
• "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J. K. Rowling (183 times)
• "The Butcher's Masquerade" by Matt Dinniman (166 times)
• "Dungeon Crawler Carl" by Matt Dinniman (164 times)
• "The Baby-Sitters Club" by Ann M. Martin (132 times)
• "Dog Man" by Dav Pilkey (129 times)
• "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" by Bill Martin Jr. (127 times)

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