RUMFORD – Area young people are invited to Catch the Reading Bug, the Summer Reading Program at the Rumford Public Library. The 2008 Summer Reading Program is open to children of all reading abilities, from preschool through age 14.

Reading during the summer months helps children maintain and enhance their reading and comprehension skills and their vocabulary. Younger children develop a positive, enthusiastic attitude toward learning to read when they are read to regularly.

Again this year, Subway, Scoops, BIG Adventure Center and the Portland Sea Dogs are working together with the Rumford library to add encouragement through incentives to our young readers.

Children are asked to read at least five days per week, for a length of time based upon the child’s age. (Prereaders may be read to by a parent, older sibling, or other caregiver.) Participants in the program will have four weeks, from Sunday, June 29, through Saturday, July 26, to meet their reading goals. Each week that a reader meets the appropriate goal, he or she will receive a coupon for a kid’s meal at Subway.

Readers who meet the goal all four weeks will receive certificates for a cool treat at Scoops and a half-day of fun at BIG Adventure Center in Bethel. The Summer Reading Awards Celebration for those who participate in the reading program will take place on Wednesday, July 30.