Read books, win prizes all year long!

Spend 2023 expanding your reading horizons by taking part in the Des Moines Public Library’s annual Reading Challenge – with the chance to win prizes along the way as you read books!

Registration is now open at dmpl.org/reading-challenge . All participants have to do is read 12 books from 12 of our 18 selected genres and categories over the course of the year. Read books in any order, as fast or slow as you want, as long as you finish by December 31, 2023.

Readers must register online, using a free and easy Beanstack account. If you need suggestions or ideas for the categories, our expert Book Chat librarians have reading suggestions for the categories online. Finish 12 categories by the end of the year, and you’ll be eligible for our prize drawings. There are also quarterly prizes for readers.

For the super readers out there, our popular monthly bonus categories are returning in 2023. Each month, we will announce the new monthly bonus reading category. If you read a book for all 12 bonus categories, you’ll get an exclusive piece of library swag!

Our reading challenge is also a great chance to connect with other readers! We have active groups on Facebook and Goodreads, and, for the first time we’ve added our challenge to StoryGraph so you can easily track and share your reading with others.

The 18 categories are as follows:

❏ 2023 AViD author

❏ Literary classic

❏ Recommendation from a Book Chat librarian

❏ Book in translation

❏ Memoir or autobiography by someone you admire

❏ Science fiction or fantasy novel

❏ Nonfiction book in a nontraditional format

❏ Book set somewhere you want to visit

❏ Book under 200 pages/novella

❏ Reese, Jenna, Oprah, or Good Morning America book club pick

❏ Book written by a transgender or nonbinary author

❏ Book that is the first in a series

❏ Book made into a movie or TV show

❏ Middle grade or YA novel

❏ Book that will make you laugh

❏ Mystery or thriller

❏ Book by a debut author

❏ Wild card (your choice)

Get started with the DMPL Reading Challenge and learn more by going to dmpl.org/reading-challenge.