Summer has a new name at the Library! Launching today, Summer Quest is an all-ages program that encourages reading, discovery, and exploration all summer long.
Head to your closest Library location, or to www.spl.org/SummerQuest, to pick up your Summer Quest activity tracker, which challenges kids, teens, and adults to log 30 days of Read, Do, and Go activities for rewards and prizes.
Every child who picks up a tracker gets a free pass to PlayDate SEA. After 15 days, kids can show their tracker at their local library branch to get their name on the Wall of Fame. After 30 days, kids can earn a free book, and enter a raffle for a pizza party for 10 at PlayDate Sea.
Teens can earn free wings at Wingstop, and enter drawings for a gift card to the FriendShop, a shop at the Central Library run by the Friends of The Seattle Public Library.
After 30 days, adults can enter a raffle to win a free gift card to the FriendShop or one of five Kobo e-readers (!).
Summer Quest is supported by donors of The Seattle Public Library Foundation.
How to get started on your Summer Quest
It’s easy. Once you’ve picked up your tracker or downloaded it – kids, teens, and adults each have their own tracker — start logging activities that are either “Read,” “Go,” or “Do.”
Each tracker suggests reading and activity challenges. For example, kids can read aloud to a pet, write a poem, or attend a fun Summer Quest event.
Teens can explore a new topic, read a newspaper from the day they were born, or discover a new-to-them spot in Seattle. Among other things, adults can log Book Bingo reading as part of their Quest. You can also come up with your own reading or activity challenge.
To be entered in our prize drawings, be sure to complete 30 days of Summer Quest by Friday, Sept. 4, the last day of the program. Bring your tracker to your closest Library location by Sept. 4 to enter the raffle.
Free Summer Quest programs: From pet painting to piñata parties
Each Library location is also hosting a wide range of Summer Quest family-friendly programs and workshops all summer long. Summer Quest programs for kids and families include pet painting parties, magic shows, West African music and dance, piñata parties, upcycled art workshops, Coast Salish storytelling and more.
Summer Quest programs for teens and adults include nature journaling, printmaking, pet painting, mindfulness, music, storytelling, tin art, pixel art, stress reduction, and even a sound bath.
Summer Quest also has suggested reading lists for kids (including picture books and graphic novels/chapter books), teens, and adults.
Summer Quest in many languages
Summer Quest activity trackers are available to print on demand at www.spl.org/SummerQuest in Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Somali, Amharic, Tigrinya, and Oromo. Staff can help you print the trackers in any of these languages.
Summer Quest is a new, all-ages iteration of The Seattle Public Library’s 107-year-old summer program for children, formerly called Summer of Learning.