RUMFORD – Plans for the Rumford Public Library’s annual Summer Fest are complete. This year’s four week schedule of daily events begins Monday, July 6, and ends Friday, July 30.

The program is open to all area youngsters, free of charge. It includes magic, crafts, picnics in the park story times, theatrical productions and other activities. Several people from the community will share their talents and interests with the children for an hour of fun and enrichment.

The summer reading program, which runs from Sunday, June 27, through Saturday, July 24, is a major component of Summer Fest.

This year’s theme is Discover New Trails at Your Library…Read. The program encourages independent reading, and helps children maintain or enhance their reading skills and vocabulary. This program is designed not only for children who are independent readers but also for children who have books read to them by parents, grandparents, siblings or caregivers. All children from preschool through age 14 are invited to participate.

Children are to read at least five days per week, for a length of time determined by the child’s age. Books read must be from the Children’s Room and should be appropriate to the child’s age and reading level.

Each week that a child meets the reading goal, he or she will receive a sandwich coupon from Subway. Those who meet the reading goal all four weeks will receive a certificate good for an ice cream treat from Scoops, plus a half-day pass to Big Adventure Center in Bethel. As an added bonus, those meeting the goal in the first week will qualify for a ticket voucher for the Sea Dogs baseball game on Sunday, July 25.

Again this year Old Fort Western, the 1754 national landmark fort, store, and historic site in Augusta, will admit summer reading program participants and their immediate family free of charge when they present verification from their library. Visit the Web site at www.oldfortwestern.org to see the summer schedule.

New this year, and in keeping with the statewide summer reading theme, the Maine State Parks System is offering Discover New Trails @ Your Library Day, with free admission to participants on Aug. 18. Also, readers are invited to attend the first summer reading celebration, Ride the Rails to Reading, coordinated by the Central Maine Library District. This event will be held Aug. 20 at the Boothbay Railway Village on Route 27 in Boothbay.

Summer reading logs with full details about the reading program and the Summer Fest schedule of events are available in the Children’s Room.