We’re thrilled to announce that this summer, over 25,000 Hawaiʻi residents joined the 2026 Summer Reading Challenge! Themed, ʻUmeke Kāʻeo—a calabash overflowing with abundance—the challenge ran from June 1 through July 31.

This year’s participants logged 8.8 million minutes of reading and finished over 180,000 books. Among them, we celebrated two Grand Prize Winners — Elliana Mowry and Eden Bensadoun 🎉

Elliana, an emerging reader from Kailua-Kona, logged 808 minutes of reading during the eight-week Challenge. We were thrilled to celebrate with Elliana at her “home” library, Kailua-Kona Public Library, as she received her vouchers for four round-trip tickets on Alaska Airlines for herself and her family!

Eden, a reader from Kahului, received the first adult grand prize in the history of Hawaiʻi’s Summer Reading Challenge. Eden logged 16 books during this year’s Challenge and received two round-trip airline tickets.

“We were blown away this year by how many of our patrons participated in the Summer Reading Challenge, which shows how involved our community is in our library and what we have to offer,” said Allison Holbrook, Branch Manager of the Kailua-Kona Public Library.

Instilling a love of reading from a young age can help set keiki on a path to lifelong learning and success. We never stop learning, exploring, and expanding our horizons, and our libraries offer a wealth of resources and opportunities for us to read, learn, and connect.

Mahalo nui loa to all of the participants of this year’s Summer Reading Challenge!