{"id":11711,"date":"2025-08-01T20:42:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T00:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=11711"},"modified":"2025-08-01T20:42:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-02T00:42:13","slug":"caribou-library-sees-record-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2025\/08\/01\/caribou-library-sees-record-read\/","title":{"rendered":"Caribou Library Sees Record Read"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Jessica Ciszewski, Yourpace Student Contributor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CARIBOU, Maine \u2014 A young boy who didn\u2019t even want to walk through the library doors now visits every single day. That\u2019s the kind of magic unfolding at the Caribou Public Library this summer, where the \u201cReading Dragons\u201d program has sparked record participation and a renewed love of reading.
\u201cThe first day, he said I was ruining his life,\u201d said Children\u2019s Librarian Brenda Matley. \u201cNow he\u2019s here every day doing the reading. It\u2019s been a motivator\u2014not just for him, but for a lot of our families. Parents have thanked me because it\u2019s helped their kids stay engaged.\u201d
More than 75 children have joined the program this year\u2014up from the usual 50 to 60\u2014and many rush into the building daily to grab their next collectible card.
\u201cThey\u2019ll jump out of the car, grab their card, and be back out before the parent even parks,\u201d said Library Director Peter Baldwin. \u201cSome kids are literally sprinting to the desk to get their next dragon card.\u201d
Each card represents progress. Kids earn them by reading\u2014or being read to\u2014and the cards themselves feed into an original game created by the library staff. The program culminates in a tournament on Friday, July 26, where the children will compete with each other to win more prizes.
For Matley, the daily energy is unmistakable. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a lot more consistency this year,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just that they\u2019re reading, it\u2019s that they\u2019re excited to be here. One family comes almost every day. The older boy has had a tough time at school, but here he\u2019s thriving. You can see how his mood shifts just by being part of it.\u201d
Dragons now fill every corner of the children\u2019s section\u2014in crafts, at storytime, and even as tiny toys given out as rewards. And it\u2019s not just the decorations; it\u2019s the structure and momentum.
\u201cWe\u2019re a small library,\u201d Baldwin said, \u201cso we don\u2019t always need statistics to know a program is working. We can see it\u2014in the energy, excitement, the smiles, and the way the kids come back again and again.\u201d
This is the first year the library has partnered with iRead, a national summer reading initiative. Baldwin said it offered a cost-effective foundation loaded with resources. But much of what makes Caribou\u2019s program special was built in-house.
\u201cThe dragon trading card game? We created it ourselves,\u201d he said. \u201cSame with the program for the adults. We link both age groups with a shared theme, but make it flexible. Adults don\u2019t always have as much free time. So we set it at about one book a week.\u201d
Even so, the grown-up side of the program is seeing major wins.
\u201cI\u2019ve got a record number of adults signed up and already about 8 to 10 have finished,\u201d Baldwin said. \u201cUsually I\u2019ll have 4 or 5.\u201d
Caleb Ciszewski, a teenager participating in the teen\/adult track, said he\u2019s read more than a dozen books this summer.
\u201cI\u2019ve read about 12 or 13 books this summer. I was working really hard to get a prize that I wanted,\u201d he said. His younger brother, Tobias, also took part in the children\u2019s tournament and earned a playmat to roll out his cards when he plays. \u201cI ended up taking first. I got two prebuilt Magic packs that had four legendary cards.\u201d
The brothers, like many local families, have made the library a regular stop.
\u201cI feel like I see more people coming to the library and going up to the desk,\u201d Ciszewski said. \u201cThey [younger siblings] want to come daily to get daily cards, and we want to come to get our Magic packs.\u201d
Beyond summer reading, the library has embraced new offerings that reflect the interests of its staff and community\u2014like Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, game tournaments, and miniature painting sessions.
\u201cWe\u2019ve done cookies and coloring,\u201d said Matley. \u201cNext week we\u2019re doing a drawing contest. We\u2019re always adding little things, and sometimes I hand out extra prizes.\u201d
The summer program wraps up Aug. 8, but the momentum isn\u2019t going anywhere. Baldwin and Matley are already brainstorming next year\u2019s theme\u2014another iRead adventure, this time steeped in medieval and fantasy fun.
For now, though, the staff is just enjoying the moment.
\u201cIt\u2019s incredible,\u201d Matley said. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing kids fall in love with reading, and that\u2019s the whole goal.\u201d
For more information, visit the Caribou Public Library or check out their website: www.cariboupubliclibrary.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Jessica Ciszewski, Yourpace Student Contributor CARIBOU, Maine \u2014 A young boy who didn\u2019t even want to walk through the library doors now visits every single day. That\u2019s the kind of magic unfolding at the Caribou Public Library this summer, where the \u201cReading Dragons\u201d program has sparked record participation and a renewed love of reading.\u201cThe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":11712,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7376],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11711"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11713,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11711\/revisions\/11713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}