For the third year in a row, Random House Children’s Books and Penguin Young Readers will sponsor the Beanstack Winter Reading Challenge, set to kick off in schools and public libraries nationwide on January 1. Participants will use the Beanstack software platform, or its sister Beanbright mobile app, to track the number of minutes spent reading and the number of books read and log that data in their individual school or library’s account. In conjunction with the Challenge launch, Beanstack is introducing its new Badge Book, a sturdy spiral-bound activity log and sticker book that families can purchase for readers to use alongside Beanstack’s online products as an additional motivating tool.

PRH is donating $50,000 in prizes for this effort, enabling top-performing libraries and schools in the Challenge to win such rewards as author visits and new books. Among the authors who will visit the winning institutions are Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich (The Hero Next Door, Crown) and Max Brallier (The Last Kids on Earth series, Viking).

During last year’s Challenge, 65,323 readers logged more than 150,000 total books and 13.5 million minutes of reading time. For 2020, a record number of more than 1,500 schools is expected to take part, and it’s hoped they can surpass last year’s marks. According to Beanstack cofounder and CEO Felix Lloyd, prizes are awarded to libraries and schools based on four different aspects: outreach, active participation, logging numbers, and community (social) sharing.

Adrienne Waintraub, executive director of school and library marketing at Random House Children’s Books, is enthusiastic about the Challenge and the ongoing Beanstack partnership. “Our focus on growing and creating readers, and supporting educators in their daily efforts to do so, aligns so well with Beanstack’s initiative—this is an engaging and fun challenge that we know will motivate kids to participate,” she said in a statement. Her colleague Carmela Iaria, v-p and executive director of school and library marketing for Penguin Young Readers, added, “With our donation, we will be able to build up diverse collections in libraries across the country, which we believe is such an important part of supporting the development of young readers.”

PRH will announce the Challenge’s top finishers—and their results—in February.