TRENTON — Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes announced the successful completion of the Mercer County Library System 2014 Summer Reading Program, an opportunity that brings families together over a shared love of books.
This summer, 4,646 children participated in the seven-week program, reading 75,003 books.
Additionally, 785 programs were offered to an audience of 22,407 children and their families, and 282 teens experienced the library hands-on and behind the scenes, volunteering for a total of 4,449 hours.
“Fostering a love of books encourages young people to be imaginative, articulate and inquisitive for the rest of their lives,” Hughes said. “The success of this program reflects well on our citizens, and I am proud that Mercer County is host to so many active library users and happy, well-read kids.”
This year’s programs, “Fizz Boom Read” for kids and “Spark a Reaction” for teens, ran June 23 through Aug. 8.
Incentive prizes were awarded weekly as children 11 and under made return visits to the library with their reading logs.
“Our goal is to keep children, teens and adults engaged with libraries throughout the summer by offering incentives and opportunities related to reading,” Hughes added. “Our summer reading program improves access to library materials and literacy-related activities such as story hours, creative arts, performances and other special events, and encourages youth to become lifelong library users and readers.”
Rich Cuccagna may be reached at rcuccagna@njtimes.com. Follow The Times of Trenton on Twitter @timesoftrenton. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.