AUBURN – Gov. John Baldacci will visit the Auburn Public Library next week during an afternoon reception called Celebrate Reading!

The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. Monday, April 7.

Baldacci’s visit will coincide with National Library Week and kickoff events planned around the Two Books/Two Cities: One Celebration of Reading! communitywide reading program.

In keeping with the current Two Books/Two Cities’ featured book, “Empire Falls,” much of which takes place in a diner, the reception will feature a favorite diner desert: gingerbread cake with whipped cream.

It also will feature raffle items and items up for bid in the library’s Bid Now, Build Later silent auction. Proceeds will benefit the library’s building campaign.

The Two Books/Two Cities program is jointly sponsored by the Lewiston and Auburn public libraries and other area organizations to encourage communitywide reading and discussion of a single book.

April’s featured title, Richard Russo’s “Empire Falls,” is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel set in a Maine mill town.

For more information about the reception, silent auction or other Two Books/Two Cities: One Celebration of Reading! activities, people can call the Auburn library at 782-3191 or visit its Web site, www.auburn.lib.me.us