Knox County Public Library’s Summer Club is finally here with a whole new look and schedule. This program is a major departure from previous years’ activities. “Pilot’s Pursuit” is a free adventure game made up of 20 enrichment challenges such as trying out a new recipe inspired by another culture, learning 10 words in a foreign language, or identifying trees and plants in the yard. And, of course, reading. The literary challenges include writing poems or letters to authors and reading different genres and formats such as graphic novels.
For every challenge met, players scratch off a landmark that reveals an important clue to help decode a secret message. Once all challenges have been met, players can pick up a coupon sheet of prizes comprised of eats, treats, and big adventures donated by area businesses.
Pilot’s Pursuit game cards are available for pick up at all library locations and are appropriate for every age: children, teens, and adults. The game may be played throughout the rest of the year until Dec. 31, 2020.
The new program complements Mayor Glenn Jacob’s Read City USA’s 2020 initiative to collectively log 500,000 hours of reading as a community. In January, the Library launched the “Read Around the World” program to track reading hours either in the Read City USA Beanstack Tracker App or in a paper passport. Pilot’s Pursuit continues the theme of exploring the world through books.
“I hope everyone will want to participate in Pilot’s Pursuit this year. It’s a new program for the whole family to read and explore our world together,” said Jacobs. “Our goal is to make Knox County the best-read community in America and this a fun way to work toward that goal.”
Prizes for Pilot’s Pursuit for children and teens include:
- Free Italian Ice at Bruster’s
- A free skating session at the Change Center
- Free child’s admission to the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge
- 30 minutes free arcade game play at Main Event
- A free single-issue comic at Nirvana Comics
- Free child’s admission to Titanic Museum Attraction
- Free slice of pizza at Tomato Head
- Two free weeks of classes for the family at South Knoxville TaeKwonDo
- $5 Rothrock credit at any Friends of the Library used book sale, and more.
Pilot’s Pursuit was made possible through support from the Friends of the Knox County Public Library, East Tennessee Pediatric Dentistry, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee Community Trust and Knoxville City Council.
For more information on Pilot’s Pursuit and Read Around the World, please visit knoxlib.org/readcity
Mary Pom Claiborne is assistant director for marketing, communications and development for Knox County Public Library