Just as teachers are gearing up to get busy, the library staff is heaving a sigh of relief as things slow down (a little!) from our youth Summer Reading Program. Each year is a new adventure for us as kids and parents throng the library for their reading adventures!

During this summer’s six-week program, PreK-5^th grade children were encouraged to read and keep track of the amount of time they spent reading.  This summer, 390 participants read 3720 hours in six weeks!  The attendance at the Saturday morning events and weekday activities totaled 468. Forty-seven percent of the kids who signed up read 12 or more hours, and 66% reported at least 3 hours read.

For each three hours that they read, kids turned in a chance for one of our 3 grand prizes. The prizes this year were 4 tickets to Adventureland, a Private Movie Night, and Lunch with a Librarian. Winners of the grand prizes are: Elizabeth McGrane, Adventureland tickets; Hailey Tabag, Private Movie Night; and Ava Scherbring, Lunch with a Librarian.

This year marked the biggest participation level EVER for the 6^th-12^th grade readers. One hundred area teens signed up for the program! This compares very favorably with last year’s sign up of 58. Instead of counting hours, the teens turned in reviews for each book they read during the six-week program. They read an amazing 467 books! Seventy percent of participants turned in at least one review. Eighty-two people attended the special events for teens. There were 3 grand prizes for the teens- 4 tickets to Adventureland, a ½ hour flight with David Gaylor, and a video camera. Katie Kenyon won the tickets to Adventureland, Faye Meyer won the flight, and Mean Pfohl won the video camera.

This program would not be possible without our wonderful cadre of volunteers and the enthusiasm of our staff. We cannot forget the generous donations from The Friends of the James Kennedy Public Library and businesses and individuals in the community. These donations make it possible to offer wonderful prizes and incentives. Each donor will be receiving a certificate of support. When you visit your favorite businesses, look for these certificates and thank them. We also have a list of donors on the library bulletin board.

The planning for the 2013 summer reading program will begin in October. Summer Reading Program themes for 2013 are "Dig Into Reading" (children's), "Beneath the Surface" (teen), and "Groundbreaking Reads" (adult). We look forward to another exciting year!