The Indianapolis Public Library is celebrating a record-breaking 2025 Summer Reading Program, with overall participation up 16.34% from 2024 and more than 26 million minutes read by kids, teens, and adults. A major driver of this success was a 62.65% increase in adult participation compared to last year.

More than 30,400 kids, teens, and adults took part in the 106th Summer Reading Program, which ended on August 2. Readers devoted 26,857,914 minutes to reading while earning prizes generously donated by community sponsors, far surpassing the Library's goal of 20 million minutes read.

"The Summer Reading Program motivates children to keep up their reading and learning throughout the summer," said Devery North, program specialist at The Indianapolis Public Library. "This year, participants have shared that in addition to encouraging them to read, the program has helped with goal setting and spending intentional time together as a family. It also helped provide a talking point with neighbors, allowing them to recommend books and get to know each other better."

A total of 24,903 kids participated in the 2025 Summer Reading Program. For the fifth consecutive year, kids kept track of the amount of time spent reading instead of the number of books read. This allowed participants of all reading levels to have an equal opportunity to earn prizes such as passes to The Children's Museum of Indianapolis Haunted House, the Indiana State Museum, Indianapolis Indians baseball games, IU Indy basketball games, books, dino stuffies, and more. Prizes were earned at milestones of reading for 1 hour, 5 hours, 10 hours, 15 hours, and 20 hours.

In addition, more than 8,400 kids attended free summer programs such as our Build It sessions, where participants learned basic woodworking skills, and the Junior Paleontology program, where participants explored Indiana's geologic history.

A total of 5,517 adults took part in Adult Summer Reading, where they tracked time spent reading, completed activities challenges, and earned prizes. In addition, 436 adults attended free summer reading programs, including Art in Stone, Printmaking Paleoart, Guided Painting, and Exploring Paleontology.

All participants were entered into drawings for grand prizes. Grand prizes for adults included a Kan-Kan Membership, a 10-day pass to North Mass Boulder, an annual pass to Eagle Creek Park, gift cards for bowling at Pins Mechanical and Royal Pin, and more. Youth grand prizes included Amazon gift cards, a Nintendo Switch, play kitchens, an Indiana529 Direct Savings Plan, and more.

"We are incredibly grateful to the donors who make the Library's Summer Reading Programs for youth and adults possible," said Roberta Knickerbocker Jaggers, president of The Indianapolis Public Library Foundation. "Thanks to their generosity, these free programs continue to bring our community together and inspire a lifelong love of reading at every age."

Throughout the Summer Reading Program, kids and families dropped off new and gently used books in donation bins at Library locations. This allowed participants to give back to the community by donating more than 2,394 books to Project Play, Inc., a nonprofit that collects new and gently used toys and books to support learning through play in every household.

The Summer Reading Program is presented by Friends of the Library through generous gifts to The Indianapolis Public Library Foundation. Major sponsors include 92.3 WTTS, Forvis Mazars, The Indianapolis Foundation Library Fund, Indianapolis Indians Charities, Lilly Endowment Inc., William McNiece, Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust, Dr. Betty Routledge, Mary Frances Rubly & Jerry Hummer, Alice and Robert Schloss, and The Indianapolis Public Library Foundation Board of Directors. Supporting sponsors include Ascension St. Vincent, Citizens Energy Group, Michaela Graham and Scott Brody, Indiana529, Nicholas H. Noyes, Jr. Memorial Foundation, Inc., Office of the Lawrence Township Trustee Steve Talley, and OneAmerica® Financial.