Plant a Seed, Read. Thank you for participating!

Harvest Time! 2026 Summer Reading

The 2026 Summer Reading Program: Plant a Seed, Read has ended! Thank you so much to our wonderful patrons and community for participating!

This year, the Summer Reading Program featured agriculture, nature, and history! Just as a farm grows food that nourishes our bodies, a library grows ideas that nourish our brains! With Plant a Seed, Read, we demonstrated how both food and stories connect us to our family, culture, economy, and ecology. This year’s summer reading program focused on exploring culture, history, science, health, and human connection!

The 2026 Summer Reading program was a huge success! This year, we had 307 readers who read a whopping total of 386,585 minutes! This is our second year using Beanstack, and we’ve gotten rave reviews! We hope to continue to fine tune the program for easy access and use.

A smiling little boy holding a Yoto player he won as a prize.
Read to Me Grand Prize winner: Sullivan
Yoto player sponsored by Midwest Bank
A smiling teen girl holding a projector and speaker she won as prizes.
Teen Grand Prize winner: Antwanette
Projector and speaker sponsored by Midwest Bank
A young boy smiling holding up his prizes for Summer Reading.
Kids Grand Prize winner: Ryker
Lego set sponsored by Midwest Bank
Adult Grand Prize winner: Kadence
Fire tablet sponsored by Chop’s Turf

The 2026 Grand Prize winners received wonderful prizes generously donated by community businesses.

Special thanks to these sponsors and collaborators:

4H Club
Agriculture in the Classroom
Blick Art Materials
Birth to 5 Illinois
Chop’s Turf
Christine Myers
Complete Parts and Repair Inc.
Discovery Depot
Elevate
Family Museum
Figge Art Museum
FunCity
Galesburg Community Foundation
Girl Scouts
Golden Manes of Valor
Gracie Lou’s Fresh Flower Co
Josh Brooks

Kiwanis Monmouth
Little Wren’s Shop
Lois Brechbiel
Mary Osborne
McClintock Law
Midwest Bank
Mike Matejka
MTC Communications
Nahant Marsh
Niabi Zoo
OSF Children’s Hospital
Patton Block
Peoria Riverfront Museum
Prairie Moon Farm
Putnam Museum & Science Center
Rotary Monmouth
Rudy Vallejo

Scooter’s Coffee
Sean Stevens Insurance
Security Savings Bank
Shadowland Serpentry
Spears & Spears
Stephanie Sims
Tanner’s Orchard
The Fun Station Quad Cities
Trinette Olin
Turnbull Heritage Museum
University of Illinois Extension Services
Warren County Genealogical Society
Warren County History Museum
Wheels O’ Time
Wild Times Exotics
Wildlife Prairie Park
Wordsmith Bookshoppe

A grid of logos including 4H Club, Agriculture in the Classroom, Birth to 5 Illinois, Blick Art Material, CHop's Turf, Christine Myers, Complete Parts and Repair Inc, Discovery Depot, Elevate Trampoline Park, Family Museum Bettendorf, Figge Museum, FunCity, Galesburg Community Foundation, Girl Scouts, Golden Manes of Valor, and Gracie Lou's Fresh Flower Co.,
A grid of logos including: Josh Brooks, Kiwanis Monmouth, Little Wren's Shop, Lois Brechbiel, Mary Osborne, McClintock Law, Midwest Bank, Mike Matjeka, MTC Communications, Nahant Marsh, Niabi Zoo, OSF Children's Hospital, Patton Block, Peoria Riverfront Museum, Prairie Moon Farms, Putnam Museum and Science Center, Rotary Monmouth, Rudy Vallejo, Scooter's Coffee, and Sean Stevens Insurance.
Grid of logos including Security Savings Bank, Shadowland Serpentry, Spears and Spears, Stephanie Sims, Tanner's Orchard, The Fun Station Quad Cities, Tinkham Electric, Trinette Olin, Turnbull Heritage Museum, University of Illinois Extension Services, Warren County Genealogical Society, Warren County History Museum, Wheels O'Time, Wild Times Exotics, Wordsmith Bookshoppe