Plant a Seed, Read!
This summer’s adult reading program invites you to read for a cause! For every hour you read — tracked as a petal on your flower reading log — staff will mark your progress while helping raise funds for local food justice organizations.
Once you’ve completed all 12 petals (12 hours of reading), you can turn in your flower to vote for the organization of your choice, and receive an entry into the adult prize raffle. This year, one lucky reader will win a $100 gift card to Williamsburg Market.
And here’s the fun part: there’s no limit — keep reading and filling out as many flowers as you’d like!
The final day to turn in your reading log for raffle tickets is August 22, 2026. Our raffle winner will be drawn the following Monday.
Visiting Meekins can help you make faster progress! By participating completing our weekly challenge, you can check off a petal in place of an hour of reading.
Summer Reading FAQ
What counts as reading?
Almost anything you can think of counts toward your reading progress, including print books, magazines, graphic novels, audiobooks, ebooks, news articles, reading aloud to someone else, and much more!
How does it work?
For every hour you read, color in one flower petal on your reading log.
Once your flower is completely filled in, bring it to the desk. Staff will collect your completed flower and give you 2 raffle tickets.
- 1 ticket for you – One raffle ticket for a chance to win a $100 gift card to Williamsburg Market.
- 1 ticket for others – Vote for your favorite food justice organization, we’ll split $300 between them.
After that, you can pick up another reading log and start again!
How does visiting Meekins help me complete my flower quicker?
Stop into the library and complete the weekly challenge to earn free reading petals.
Complete the weekly challenge posted near the adult sign-up table! These quick activities are designed to be completed in a single library visit, with the goal of encouraging you to stop by and visit the library each week.
Once you have participated, take your reading log to the desk for staff to mark accordingly.
What local nonprofits can I support?
This year, our summer reading participants will help us support local food justice organizations. At the end of summer, we’ll split $300 between them depending on your votes! Want to make an even bigger impact? Donate to our collection jar and help grow our donation fund!
Read more about the nonprofits that you can vote for below:
- Neighbors Helping Neighbors Pantry: Located on the steps of the Williamsburg Grange on Main Street in Williamsburg, this informal pantry, founded in 2020, is a source of food, personal care items, cleaning products, seasonal clothing, home-baked treats and more for neighbors in need. The pantry is an intercommunity partnership, with space provided by the Grange and all items donated by community members. Use of the pantry is anonymous, and it is available 365 days a year, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. It is quietly managed by two community members. It is truly neighbors helping neighbors.
- Grow Food Northampton: Grow Food Northampton’s mission is to create a just and resilient local food and farming system that nourishes our community and protects and enriches the earth.
- Just Roots: Just Roots is a nonprofit community organization located in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Just Roots began in 2008 as a grassroots group of concerned citizens looking to promote vegetable gardening and growing food on municipal land.
This challenge feels too easy/difficult for me
We know that everyone’s schedule and reading pace are different, but our main goal is to encourage you to challenge yourself! The “one hour per petal” guideline is a suggestion.
You know your own habits and availability best, and we encourage adult readers to adjust the challenge to fit their lives. Think about how much time you realistically spend reading and choose a goal that feels both achievable and motivating for you.
If you decide that 30 minutes per petal is the right challenge for you, that’s great! There’s no need to notify staff if you choose to adjust your reading goals.
When is the final day to claim tickets?
The final day to turn in your reading log for raffle tickets is August 22, 2026. Our raffle winner will be drawn the following Monday.