According to Edmonds Public Library Managing Librarian Lesly Kaplan, many young children experience the summer slump, where reading achievement can actually decline during the summer months. The library has a fun program — Explore Summer — designed to help kids keep their reading skills strong.

In Explore Summer, children challenge themselves to read 10 books or 1,000 pages, plus do two learning activities and two discovery activities. Upon completion, they return to the library for a free book and a chance to enter a drawing for a bicycle donated from the Freemasons of Washington. Here’s the library announcement:

Kids can have fun choosing books and exciting library resources to read. Learning activities can be as simple as writing a brief statement about a book that was read, or creating a piece of artwork, or a Lego structure. Discover activities include planting some seeds, visiting the beach and describing some of the coastal creatures. The possibilities are endless, and the resources are calling for children to enjoy themselves with this great reading program. In addition there are free programs to enjoy. See the Sno-Isle Libraries website to get more information: www.sno-isle.org or call the Edmonds Library at 425-771-1933.

Teens can Spark a Reaction with Teen Summer Reading 2014. Have fun reading books and posting book reviews to win prizes! Super fun Scavenganza has just kicked off, where teens can gather friends and family into teams to compete in this awesome Library activity. The team who accumulates the most points this summer will receive a private after-hours party at the Sno-Isle Library of their choice. See the website for more information, and enjoy participating in this exciting challenge game. New challenges will arrive throughout the summer, but start off activities include making a team flag, team costumes, creating selfies with statues, making a life size game board, plus more creative opportunities to gain points. For more information see the website: www.sno-isle.org/teens/srscavenganza

Adults also have opportunities to share recommended books to read by submitting brief book reviews to the Sno-Isle website at the Edmonds location, Kaplan adds. “Share your favorites so others can enjoy finding the books that have sparked your imagination.” You can find more information here: www.sno-isle.org/locations/edmonds