Readers Are Leaders Readers Are Leaders was a program originally initiated by Texas School Libraries and the Texas Education Agency to encourage students to read a a wide variety of good books and to help them become life long readers. To earn a Readers Are Leaders trophy, to have his/her picture posted on the library wall, and to earn an invitation to the Great Readers Celebration, the student must read 17 age/reading level appropriate books, including ten fiction (F), two biographies (921), one history (930-999), one folklore (398.2), two non-fiction, and one poetry (811 or 821). The librarian provides forms for students to keep a record of their reading.

The Texas Bluebonnet Award (TBA) reading program was established in 1979 to encourage Texas children to read more books, explore a variety of current books, develop powers of discrimination, and identify their favorite books. The award process provides librarians, teachers, parents, and writers with insight into young students' reading preferences. It further affords an opportunity to honor and encourage imaginative authors who create books with high appeal to children. At Bales, students must read 5 of 20 titles from a master list to have the privilege of voting for their favorite title in January with students from all over the state of Texas. To earn a trophy at the end of the school year, they must read and successfully pass the Accelerated Reader quizzes for all 20 titles.

The Accelerated Reader Program The Accelerated Reader Program is a reading motivation program that allows students to read any of 5407 different designated books from the school or public library, to take computerized multiple choice quizzes on them, and to earn points on quizzes that are successfully passed. On Wednesday each week, the Accelerated Reader "loot locker", which is operated by parent volunteers, is open for students to "spend" their points on pencils, books, toys, and other prizes. Click here to see the list of Accelerated Reader quizzes at Bales.