Reading Programs

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library (DPIL) is a book gifting program that mails books to children from birth to age five. Each month, the Imagination Library mails a high quality, age appropriate book to all registered children, addressed to them, at no cost to the child’s family. See this year's book list.

DPIL is supported by local program partner Westminster Rotary Club.

How to participate:

Enroll your child online, or in person in the Children's Room at College Hill or Irving Street.
In 6-8 weeks your child will receive their first book.
Each month your child will receive a new book until age 5.
When your child turns 5, they will receive their final book and graduate for the program.

Paws to Read

What are furry, have four legs, and love to listen to kids read? Therapy dogs! Reading with therapy dogs helps kids gain confidence. Bring your own book or choose one at the library. Sign up for a 15-minute session when you arrive. AGES: 5-12
College Hill, Mondays at 4 p.m.
Irving Street, second Saturdays, 2 p.m.

1,000 Books Before Kindergarten

Congratulations! You are about to embark on a fantastic, lifelong journey with your child.

Together you will read 1,000 books before kindergarten. By committing to this journey, you will help your child gain pre-literacy skills that will prepare them for reading throughout their life. Read more about this national program.

Note to current WPL 1000 Books participants:

We are updating how you track your child's reading progress towards 1000 Books Before Kindergarten! We hope using Beanstack for online tracking and having a simpler reading log will improve your experience. Library staff can help you easily import your progress into Beanstack. Read more about using Beanstack below.

Here's how it works:

Sign up for a Beanstack account with Westminster Public Library and enroll your child in the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten challenge. A Beanstack Tracker app is also available for iOS and Android.
Beginning April 27, 2024, come to the Children's Desk at either library to receive your Welcome Packet and first reading log.
As you read, fill in a circle on the reading log for each book you read together.
Track books on Beanstack in whichever way works best for you:
  a. Enter the book title manually online or through the app if you would like to keep a record of the books you read. Using the app, you can also simply scan the book’s ISBN.
  b. Enter all 100 books at once when you complete a reading log. Simply ignore the Title/Author and enter that you read a book 100 times.
  c. Bring your completed reading log to the library and have staff update your Beanstack account for you
Each time you finish 100 books, come in to the library for your next reading log and receive a sticker to track your progress.
When you complete all ten reading logs and reach 1,000 books, come to the Children's Desk and tell us that you finished 1000 Books Before Kindergarten—we have a special gift from the library for your child!

We Love Book Clubs!

We love working with book clubs and can provide programming and support.

Book Group Bags: The library offers a collection of book group bags to support your book club. Each bag contains 10 copies of the same book, a discussion guide and author biography. Bags check out for six weeks. Selections are updated several times per year. See the list of adult book group bags. If you have questions about using a book group bag, please call the College Hill Information Desk at 303-658-2604.

Library Book Clubs

Noon Book Club (In Person and on Zoom)

First Wednesday of each month, noon to 1 p.m., Irving Street, Community Room
Read the selected book and be prepared to join us for a lively discussion about the book. AGES: 18 and older. Register for the Zoom invitation to each meeting. Upcoming titles:

May 1 : Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey
June 3: The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid
July 3: Breakfast with Buddha by Roland Merullo
Aug. 7 : American Sirens by Kevin Hazzard
Sept. 4 : Stories Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
Oct. 2 : Daisy Darkey by Alice Feeney
Nov. 6 : Magic of Ordinary Days by Anne Howard Creel
Dec. 4 : First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

Evening Book Club

Second Monday of each month, 6-7:30 p.m. College Hill, Room L167
Want to be in a book club where you actually talk about the book? Meet new friends and expand your reading with hot new titles and old favorites you might have missed! AGES: 18+. Upcoming titles:

May 13: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
June 10: Spider Woman's Daughter by Anne Hillerman
July 8: Women Who Launch by Marlene Wagman-Geller
Aug. 12: The Radcliffe Ladies' Reading Club by Julie Bryan Thomas

Embark on a lifelong journey with your child by reading 1,000 books before they enter kindergarten. See program details. AGES: 0-5