Kia ora readers and writers, quest-takers, and Adventurers of all stripes! The 2023/24 Summer Reading Adventure is officially over, and it’s fair to say that we have been absolutely blown away by your exploits over the summer. We will be announcing our Grand Prize winners over the next week or so, so do keep an eye out on this blog and on our social media for more on this!
Here are some very impressive numbers for those who are that way inclined:
- 1,715 intrepid Adventurers participated in the Summer Reading Adventure this year
- Together, you read 22,910 books — that’s one book every 3 minutes and 53 seconds!
- You also created 7,692 book reviews — some of you even chose to make videos, write poems, or make dioramas based on the books you read!
- You completed 5,006 quests — some of them in our libraries, others in your own home, and others still out in the city, making this the most adventure-filled Adventure yet!
- Together, you earned and collected 2,270 prizes for your efforts, including ice cream vouchers, stationery, books, book vouchers, and much more, thanks to our generous sponsors.
We are also extremely excited to announce that Seatoun School is the official winner of this year’s School Prize, with 45.9% of their school roll, or 169 students, signing up for and taking part in Summer Reading. Ka rawe, Seatoun School! They have won a free visit from a Wellington author or illustrator of their choice, courtesy of our kind and generous friends at Read NZ Te Pou Muramura. We can’t wait to see which lucky creator gets to visit them!
Finally, we would like to thank all of our wonderful sponsors for their support of this year’s Summer Reading Adventure. In no particular order: Ben & Jerry’s Wellington, Circa Theatre, Gecko Press, Light House Cinema, Office Max NZ, Orchestra Wellington, Rattle Records, Read NZ Te Pou Muramura, Staglands Wildlife Reserve and Cafe, Unity Books, the Wellington Footlights Society, Wētā Workshop, Ye Olde Pinball Shoppe, Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne, and Wellington Zoo. Ngā mihi to you all for helping us help you keep reading over the summer!
That’s it for now — thank you for a wonderful summer, and we’ll see you again next year!