SALISBURY — For people with busy schedules, finding the time to read can be difficult, but Rowan Public Library is here to help with that. For the rest of the month of Jan., the RPL is organizing a “Winter Reading Challenge” for people ages 18 and older to compete in a BINGO-style game through the READsquared app to encourage residents to crack open a book now that the holidays are over.

Adult Services Supervisor Lyndsey Maloney said the challenge originated when the library was looking for a special way for their adult clientele to read more books in the winter months. Maloney said they already use the READsquared app for their summer reading program and recently discovered it has a BINGO game option, which inspired the winter challenge. Library employee Lilli Casey was the one who helped create the eclectic BINGO squares that make up the challenge. These range from ‘read a classic novel,’ ‘read a book published in the year you were born to “read a book set in the winter time.”

“Fun things like reading a snowy mystery or reading a book that starts with ‘W’ for winter just to give a challenge of different books to do. We also have a paper version because not everybody wants or can use the app or the website,” Maloney said.

To take part in the challenge, people can download the READsquared app and connect to the RPL or they can visit any of the libraries and have an employee assist with their online registration. Paper copies are available at all library branches as well.

If someone gets horizontal, vertical or diagonal BINGO on their card they can come to a library location and pick up an “adult coloring kit” and several other prizes. Maloney says that the library hopes they can expand these kinds of challenges for teens and kids in the future.

“The overall goal is, number one, to get usage out of the READsquared app besides summer reading. We don’t do a lot of standard programming in the winter, December and January, so we were trying to find something to do for adults in the winter time. We thought this would be a fun, passive way for them to be able to participate in the library program, but also get them to read and use their literacy skills,” Maloney said.

The challenge ends on Jan. 31 at 11:59 p.m. People can register at https://rowanpubliclibrary.readsquared.com/