# Hitting the Road in 2025
Mayor Deegan’s River City Readers is an ongoing citywide literacy challenge which launched in 2024. That first year, hundreds of students and adults participated, collectively reading nearly three million minutes and logging them on the Beanstack tracker app!
“Reading opens doors to new worlds, sparks our creativity, and empowers us with the knowledge to shape the future,” said Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan. “The River City Readers challenge is just the beginning of a journey toward lifelong learning, and these students aren’t just winners today – they’re the future leaders, thinkers, and innovators of our city.”
The River City Readers Bookmobile has already started rolling out, delighting readers at library and community events across the city. As the literacy challenge continues into its second year, Mayor Deegan, Kids Hope Alliance, Jacksonville Public Library and others are excited to bring this message of literacy and a love of reading into every neighborhood in Jacksonville.
Please note: The Bookmobile is operated by Jacksonville Public Library and was purchased with generous grants to the Library Foundation of Jacksonville from the Lucy Gooding Foundation and PNC Bank Foundation.
Look for the River City Readers Bookmobile in your neck of the woods soon for book giveaways, literacy resources and more. Sign up for a library card on the Bookmobile and let the librarians help you choose the perfect book!
The Bookmobile is out in the community visiting early learning centers and afterschool sites as well as community events. We also have scheduled visits in Jacksonville schools, Kids Hope Alliance-funded afterschool programs, and early learning centers. These visits include a "Drop Everything and Read" activity with a librarian from Jacksonville Public Library plus a chance for students and teachers to find amazing library books for their classroom library each month.
Schedule a visit from the Bookmobile
Note: You will receive a response within seven business days of your request to schedule a visit. We cannot guarantee we will be able to fulfill all requests but will make our best attempt to be at or near your site soon.
# New to River City Readers?
Mayor Deegan has challenged all of Jacksonville to download a free app called Beanstack. Through this app, children and their caregivers will be able to log their reading minutes with an individual goal of reading at least 20 minutes per day. Readers are rewarded with digital badges for logging multiple days in a row and for completing other reading-related activities. You can start the challenge at any time and it all contributes to the citywide goal of two million minutes read each year.
At the end of the year, the readers with the most minutes read are given prizes! Top readers from 2024 were recognized at a City Hall ceremony on January 27, 2025, and honored with prizes including iPads, Icemen tickets, and books from Mayor Deegan’s new River City Readers Bookmobile.
Join the River City Readers Challenge
- Go to the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
- Download and open the Beanstack Tracker app.
- Using the Find a Site search bar, type Jax Library or River City Readers.
You can also register and log your reading minutes at https://jaxpl.beanstack.com.
Logging Your Reading Minutes
- Go to the Beanstack app.
- The Home screen has a summary of your reading activities.
- To log time read, touch the plus sign in the green button at the bottom of the screen.
- Touch the Reading button to log time spent reading.
- If you have more than one reader in your account, you will be prompted to choose the reader you are logging for.
- Choose your logging method.
- When logging by book title, if you only know part of the title, you can choose Search for a Title and enter what you know.
- Touch the title that you want to log.
- If you want to track your reading progress as you progress through a book, keep the Track progress button on. If you would like to only add minutes read
- to your log, turn off the Track progress button.
Improving literacy rates is a top priority for Mayor Deegan and her administration, as fewer than half of third graders are reading on grade level. Literacy levels affect economic development, public safety, and overall quality of life for the residents of Duval County. Jacksonville Public Library recognizes the importance of literacy and lifelong learning and will actively support initiatives aligned with our mission, goals, and service priorities.
