📚 2025 Summer Reading Programs in Harrisburg, West Shore & Carlisle
Keep Kids Reading All Summer Long — and Maybe Even Earn a Pizza, a Book, or a Dogman Backpack in the Process
Ah, summer. That magical time when your kids are suddenly bored 24/7, their reading comprehension mysteriously evaporates, and every conversation somehow circles back to popsicles or screen time.
Enter the 2025 Summer Reading Programs—your secret weapon to keep your kids learning, exploring, and earning actual prizes for opening books instead of apps.
From Harrisburg to Carlisle, Camp Hill to Enola, these FREE reading programs are packed with rewards like pizza, backpacks, books, and a chance to actually tire your kids out mentally. Let’s dive into the best options near you!
🏆 Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program 2025
Ages: Grades 1–6
Timeline: Now through August 31, 2025
Prize: A FREE book (a real one — no batteries or passwords required!)
📖 Download the 2025 Reading Journal
📚 Log any 8 books and your favorite part of each
🏃♀️ Return your journal to a participating Barnes & Noble store between July 1–August 31 to pick your prize book
Why we love it: It’s simple, easy, and your kid might actually want to go inside a bookstore instead of just using your Amazon cart.
🎒 Books-A-Million Summer Reading Adventure 2025
Ages: Kids (you know the ones who “don’t need to read” anymore because they “read enough at school”)
Prize: A FREE Dogman backpack — so your child can carry their books in style while still smelling vaguely of summer sweat
📚 Pick up your Summer Reading Adventure Log
📖 Read any 4 books from the summer reading section
📦 Turn it in at your local BAM and collect that Dogman swag
Why we love it: It’s funny, it’s free, and we love anything that convinces kids to read AND accessorize.
🍕 Pizza Hut Camp BOOK IT!
Ages: PreK through 6th Grade
Timeline: June–August 2025
Prize: A FREE Personal Pan Pizza (cue the happy 90s flashbacks)
📱 Register and track progress via the BOOK IT! parent dashboard
📖 Set a monthly reading goal for your child
🎉 Get rewarded with a digital certificate for free pizza when they reach their goal
Why we love it: It combines carbs and literacy—what else do you need?
📖 Scholastic Home Base Summer Reading
Ages: 3–14
Timeline: May 9–August 19, 2025
Prize: Digital experiences, and the warm fuzzy feeling of helping Scholastic donate books to kids in need
🌐 Join the fun via Scholastic Summer Reading
📖 Track your Reading Streak™, complete challenges, and unlock new worlds
🌟 Read to earn experiences and make a difference
Why we love it: It's moderated, screen-based (in a good way), and lets your kids feel like world-changers for simply reading books.
🏞️ Cumberland County Libraries – Summer Learning Program 2025
Theme: Adventure Begins at Your Library
Timeline: May 24 – August 15, 2025
Who it’s for: Literally everyone: babies, kids, teens, and grown-ups who never returned that one overdue Goosebumps book
📚 Register and log books via your local library at Cumberland County Libraries
🎉 Earn badges, prizes, and bragging rights
🎨 Enjoy events, storytimes, and surprises all summer long
Why we love it: Every library has its own twist, prizes, and programs — it’s like a choose-your-own-summer-adventure novel.
🥾 Go Cumberland! Trail Challenge 2025
Timeline: June 1 – August 15, 2025
Prize: Outdoor adventure + secret codes + actual physical movement + more prizes
🚶♀️ Pick up your guidebook at a local library or print one at GoCumberland.org
🥾 Hit the trails — each hike ends with a secret rubbing plate
🧩 Collect all 15 codes to unlock bonus rewards
Why we love it: It tricks kids into reading AND exercising. That's parent gold.
| Amelia Gavin Registration (All): 05/18  Kids: Opening Parties: 06/07 & 06/08 Kids: Closing Parties: 08/09 & 08/10 Teen & Adults: Starts: 05/18 Teen & Adults: Reading Challenge Ends: 08/10 | Bosler Starts: 06/01  Ends: 08/09 Last date for prizes: 08/30 |
| Coy (Shippensburg)Registration: 04/27  Starts: 06/10 Ends: 08/16 Prizes Available: TBA Deadline for picking up prizes: 08/23 | East Pennsboro Registration: 06/01 - 08/15  Starts: 06/01 Ends: 08/15 Last day to pick up prizes: 08/30 |
Fredricksen Starts: 06/01 Ends: 08/15 Summer Reading Program Kickoff: 06/13 Summer Kickoff Concert featuring Trinidad & Tobago Baltimore Steel Orchestra: 06/13, 7pm-8:30pm Register by 06/15 and be entered into a grand prize drawing. Deadline for picking up prizes: 08/31 | John Graham Pre-registration: 05/01  Starts: 05/25 Ends: 08/15 Incentive prizes must be picked up by: 08/15 Grand Prize winners must pick up their prize by: 09/15 |
| New Cumberland Registration: 05/15  Starts: 06/01 Ends: 08/15 Last day to pick up prizes: 08/24 | Simpson Registration: 05/01  Starts: 06/01 Ends: 08/01 Last day to pick up prizes: 08/22 |
📚 Dauphin County Library System – Summer Reading Challenge 2025
Theme: Adventure Begins at Your Library
Timeline: June 1 – August 31, 2025
📖 Register through Beanstack
🌟 Earn points for reading, writing reviews, and completing challenges
🎁 Win an Explore Your Community Bag + a free book + prize entries
Why we love it: Prizes are actually cool and the "Explore Your Community" bag gets you free stuff all over town — aka summer parenting hacks in tote form.
🗓️ Bonus Round: Want Even More Summer Reading Fun?
Head to our Event Calendar for a full list of kickoff parties, storytimes, and special summer literacy events happening all season long.
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Did we miss a summer reading program in your neighborhood?
Send it to rachaelb@macaronikid.com — we’ll be happy to update the guide and shout it from the literary rooftops.
Wishing you magical macaroni memories — and just enough quiet reading time to finish a sentence yourself.
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