| 🐲 Getting Started 🦄 | 💥 Playing the Game 🎴 | 💪 Library Tournaments 🏆 | 🤔 Frequently Asked Questions 📋 |
Reading can be magical! ✨
Our Reading Dragons & Friends program encourages young readers to engage with stories in a fun, interactive way. Perfect for early elementary children, it combines reading with games, activities, and a love of imagination. Any LME Library cardholder, ages 5 through adult is welcome to participate.
✅ Build reading confidence
✅ Earn fun rewards
✅ Join a community of readers, card collectors, and card players!
✨ Will you be the ultimate Reading Dragons & Friends collector? ✨
Getting Started 🐲🐦🔥🦄
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Start Your Adventure
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Pick up a reading tracker, starter cards, and an instruction card at the LME Library.
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Register online at bit.ly/LMEdragons [this helps us anticipate card printing needs].
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Read & Track
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Every box = 20 minutes of reading (any book/audiobook, anywhere!).
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After finishing a row (80 minutes), bring your tracker to the library.
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A librarian will initial your row, and let you pick out a creature family (4 cards: egg, child, teen, and adult). Note: Cards must be from the same family; if you choose the "red dragon egg," you must also get the "red dragon child, teen, & adult."
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Collect Them All!
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Each month brings 6 new creature families to earn.
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Collect 4 families in a month (320 minutes total) to receive a bonus card available only that month! 🃏
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Playing the Game 🃏🎴
Once you get your tracker you'll have cards you can play with right away!
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Basic Play (Rock, Paper, Scissors style):
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Fire 🔥 beats Leaf 🌿
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Leaf 🌿 beats Water 💧
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Water 💧 beats Fire 🔥
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Same element = tie!
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Players pick a card and reveal it at the same time.
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Alternate Play (War-style):
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Shuffle your stack of cards.
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Each player flips the top card. Strongest card wins!
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Reduce ties -- The person who plays the "oldest" creature card of that color breaks the tie, regardless of creature type (child wins over egg; teen wins over egg & child; adult wins over egg, child, & teen; if both cards are the same "age" it's a tie)
- Make sure both players have the same number of cards and write your names on them so everyone gets theirs back.
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Library Tournaments 💪🏆
Want to test your skills?
Keep an eye on the library’s website for tournaments starting in January 2026!
Frequently Asked Questions 🤔📋
Q: If I already have a tracking log, do I still need to register online?
A: Yes! Registering online helps us plan how many cards to print for all our readers.
Q: Do I need to download an app or track my reading online?
A: Nope. All logging is done on your paper tracker—so keep it safe and up to date!
Q: Do I have to read library books?
A: Nope! Any reading counts: books, audiobooks, graphic novels, magazines, reading together as a family—even reading in class!
Q: Do I have to have a library card to participate?
A: Yes. This program is only open to LME Library cardholders between the ages of kindergarten through adult. If you are outside our library district, contact your local library and suggest they start their own Reading Dragons & Friends program. Most libraries love patron feedback on programs they are interested in!
Q: Can siblings share a tracker?
A: No. Each reader needs their own tracker to earn cards.
Q: I didn’t finish all my reading last month. Should I keep logging in that month or start fresh this month?
A: Always log your reading in the current month. If you finish early, you can go back later and complete unfinished months to earn more cards.
Q: I'm an avid reader and have already collected all 4 families for the current month. Can I keep logging minutes for next month and get those cards early?
A: No, you can’t start logging for the next month early. We love that you enjoy reading so much and are eager to collect more cards, but you’ll need to wait until the new month. Keep reading just for fun in the meantime!
Q: What if I lose my cards?
A: You are responsible for keeping track of your own cards and log sheet. Write your name on them as soon as you collect them! The library can only replace starter cards and provide a blank tracker if lost or damaged.
Q: Can I get cards from past months?
A: Maybe. After a month ends, we stop printing that month’s cards. However, you’re welcome to collect any past month’s cards while supplies last.
Q: Can I trade the cards I’ve earned with friends & family?
A: Absolutely! Trading is optional, but if you trade, please be kind and make fair swaps.
If you have questions not covered above, please contact the Lillie M Evans Library (of Princeville, Illinois) at 309-385-4540 or
Reading Dragons & Friends was co-created in 2019 by librarians Liz Strauss and Mallory Thompson of the Dover Public Library in Dover, Ohio.
LME Library began its Reading Dragons & Friends program in September 2025.
