KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — It was a long journey that took readers to the furthest parts of their imagination, but the Read City USA challenge is complete in Knox County. Officials said they surpassed the 1 million hour goal on Tuesday.
During the challenge, people tracked the minutes they spent reading through an app on their phones. By tracking the time spent reading, they earned virtual badges and other kinds of rewards, all while helping their community surpass more than 1 million hours.
Read City USA is a collaborative effort between the Knox County Government, the Knox County Public Library, Knox County Schools, the Great School Partnership and other community organizations. Mayor Glenn Jacobs also advocated for the challenge, encouraging people to read more across the community.
According to officials, only 40% of Knox County students can read at their expected grade level by the third grade. As part of the challenge, Read City USA encouraged parents to read with their children as a way to help children understand the world around them and create healthy emotional bonds that act as the foundation for future kinds of relationships.
Officials also posted parenting resources for different age groups, to help parents in the community. There is also a toolkit available online to help parents and readers continue logging hours.
In 2020, Knox County readers took a journey around the world, collecting stamps and reading books from countries far away to surpass the 2020 Read City USA goal of 500,000 hours. This year, that number was doubled and the community still managed to beat it!
This year's theme was "Tails and Tales."