Celebrate stories, adventure and the great outdoors with East Lothian Libraries this summer with the 2025 Summer Reading Challenge – Story Garden, from now until Saturday, 23 August.
The Challenge launched on Friday 20 June at Musselburgh Library with local author Tom Nicoll, who was joined by members of the Musselburgh Library Junior Gardening Club and lots of families keen to sign up.
The Reading Agency’s annual Summer Reading Challenge encourages children aged 4-11 to read for fun and happens in libraries across the country every summer.
This summer, your local East Lothian library invites you to step into the magical world of Story Garden, the 2025 Summer Reading Challenge theme. With stunning artwork by illustrator Dapo Adeola, children will uncover stories that celebrate the great outdoors and the power of imagination.
With incentives to collect and plenty of brilliant books to enjoy, the Summer Reading Challenge is the perfect summer activity to build young readers’ skills and confidence during the summer break and keep them on track to grow into lifelong readers.
Councillor Colin McGinn, Cabinet Spokesperson for Community Wellbeing said: “We know that encouraging children to read for pleasure not only helps with learning, it also boosts their confidence, self-esteem and mental wellbeing. And what a great theme for a summer challenge – all about celebrating adventure and the great outdoors! Our libraries have a fantastic lineup of events to add to the fun of the challenge. I would encourage as many of our young people as possible to take part and enjoy a world of books and adventure this summer.”
How does it work?
It’s simple: children can visit any East Lothian library to sign up for the Challenge and start by taking their first book. The goal is to read any six library books over the summer, collecting stickers along the way and every finisher receives a certificate and is entered into a prize draw.
We have lots of free and fun events in libraries over the summer holidays to help celebrate nature, the outdoors, and – of course – books! Visit our website for more information or contact your local library.