Saturday
September 7, 2024 
The Bucks County Reading Olympics program, facilitated by the Bucks County Intermediate Unit (Bucks IU), is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
The purpose of the annual event is to encourage children to read more, explore a greater variety of books, and to cultivate their enjoyment and excitement for reading.
In 1994, the Bucks County Reading Olympics began through the efforts of a small group of Bucks County librarians with 64 participating teams. Thirty years later, including a few years of virtual programming during the COVID pandemic, there are 260 teams participating – a 306% increase. The 2024 teams represent 3,800 students who are expected to read a total of 30,000 books.
“Seeing these students be so excited about their reading accomplishments is what makes this program so great,” stated Pam Dinan, Bucks IU supervisor of education who leads the Bucks County Reading Olympics. “These students blossom as their worlds expand with the exploration of more books and subject matter content.”
Schools facilitate teams at three levels: elementary, middle/junior high and high school. Each team consists of eight to 16 students who agree to read from lists of 25 books appropriate for their age and reading level. The book lists are prepared in the spring of the previous year by interested teachers and librarians. Student teams meet all year to discuss and review the books together.
The Reading Olympics program begins each fall with teams gathering regularly to read and discuss books. The program culminates in April/May with a special evening event where the teams participate in three rounds of questioning centered on the books and their understanding of them.
Members of every team receive a ribbon based on the number of points their group earns demonstrating their expertise and knowledge of the books they read. No teams are ever eliminated – just participating and reading more makes everyone a winner.
Jason Goldberg, from the technology team of Mill Creek Elementary in the Bristol Township School District, stated, “Not only is Reading Olympics a fun activity, but it also encourages students to read. Even better are the conversations students have about the books. The students continue to stop me in the hall to share their favorite parts of the books.”
Reading Olympics is a program that “takes a village” to make happen each year. More than 600 volunteers assist by working as moderators, scorekeepers, and team leaders. For the 2024 events, 10 different locations had to be arranged to accommodate the 260 total teams involved (six locations were used for elementary level events and four for middle/junior high and high school levels).
“Books help us to build bridges and tear down walls,” said Michele Celona of MaST Community Charter School. “Reading Olympics exposes students to books from many different cultures so that students can better understand differences, similarities, and honor the uniqueness among all of us.”
Librarians, teachers, parents, students, and district staff all contribute to making the event successful.
Reading Olympics information, including the reading lists for the next year (when available), can be found on the Bucks IU website at: Bucks IU Reading Olympics.
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