Press release from Monmouth County Library
Registration for the Summer Reading Program at the Eastern Branch of the Monmouth County Library begins this month for the sessions which run from June 1 through August, with a special accent on exciting programs and incentives for young readers.
Separate programs for pre-readers and school age children are offered, with age appropriate selections and reading goals for each age. The Read-to-Me program, geared to non-readers and preschoolers, encourages children to listen to stories.  Children who “read” or listen to twenty or more stories which are logged onto a reading record are rewarded with fun prizes. There are additional prize incentives for those who exceed this goal. Children are invited to bring their relatives and friends to sit with them and enjoy the reading program.
The On Your Mark, Get Set…Read program is geared to independent readers through grade 5, and focuses on sports-themed messages and incentives during the program feature unique prizes from splat balls to paperback books. The Get in the Game program is for readers in grades 6 through 12, and encourages reading goals for the summer. Readers are invited to record the number of pages they have read each time they come to the library, with a goal of reading 800 pages during the summer months. All the recording of time, pages, and books is electronic, with readers setting up a log-in and keeping track on everything online.
Adults can also participate in the library’s Summer Reading Program in the Exercise Your Mind program for 18 years of age and older. It is not necessary to make a trip to the library in order to register or update logs. Registration may be done online at any time, by phone or, if readers prefer, in-person at any of Monmouth County branches.
“With all the excitement of summer and all the outdoor activities associated with it, young people in particular need some down time to relax their bodies and give their minds some exercise,” said Renee Swartz, chairperson of the Monmouth County Library Commission. “The library offers not only the popular classics with which we are all familiar, but also new authors and new story lines that are particularly popular with tweens and young adults.”
All programs in the Monmouth County Library are free and open to the public . The library’s webpage, http://www.monmouthcountylib.org/sr.htm, offers further details on each of the programs.  Registration takes place at Eastern Branch or any of the branches during regular library hours. Like all programs at the Monmouth County Library, there are no fees for registering for any of the programs.
