JAY — The Jay-Niles Memorial Library will offer summer reading programs for tweens and teens and, separately, adults from June 30 through Aug. 5, with activities ranging from potion-making, dragon crafts and live-action role play to Revolutionary War history, a private fort tour, blacksmithing and music.

The Tween and Teen Summer Reading Program, led by Tween and Teen Librarian Lake France, will use the “Dragon Army Castle Conquest” theme, while the Adult Summer Reading Program, “Read: It’s Revolutionary!,” will explore literature, history, arts and crafts and music from 250 years ago through programs connected to Revolutionary Maine: America at 250.

All Tween and Teen Summer Reading Program events will be held at 5 p.m. Tuesdays at the library.

The program’s premise is that the Jay-Niles Memorial Castle, or library, has been taken over by evil dark forces. Dragons from the forest have heard the library’s plea and made a deal: By harnessing the power of reading, participants will receive dragon eggs to hatch and train for a Dragon Army. Together, they will collect as many dragons as possible and banish the forces from the library.

The tween and teen schedule opens June 30 with Magic Potions. The library’s magicians will teach participants how to make mystical magic potions. Participants can make their own potion bottles and pick up reading logs to begin amassing their dragon army.

Dragon Eggs is scheduled for July 7. Participants will learn about different types of dragons that have appeared throughout history for hundreds of years, then design a dragon egg to take home.

On July 14, the Foam Swords program will invite participants to learn to fight like warriors and make their own weaponry. The program will include a live-action role-play activity in which participants help defend against the dark forces taking over the library.

The July 21 Dragon Puppet program will focus on the library’s fictional hatchery, where baby dragons are hatching and need to be adopted. Participants will design and create a flying dragon puppet to adopt as their own.

Flower Crowns will be held July 28 as the battle nears its conclusion. Participants will use flowers and mushrooms gifted by the forest dragons to make their own victory crowns.

The Tween and Teen Summer Reading Program will conclude Aug. 4 with a Victory Faire. The veil of darkness will have left the library and the dragons can rest as creatures of the forest gather for a party. Participants can turn in their reading logs, learn how many dragon eggs they hatched and earn a prize.

The Adult Summer Reading Program will be held Wednesdays. All but one event will begin at 4 p.m., and several programs will be held away from the library.

The adult program begins July 1 at 4 p.m. at the library, 983 Main St., with an introduction to the Maine Historical Society’s resources on “Revolutionary Maine: America at 250.” The event will be followed by the first episode of “The American Revolution,” a film by Ken Burns.

A private after-hours tour of Old Fort Western, 8 Cony St. in Augusta, is scheduled for July 8 at 4 p.m. The reconstructed fort includes the original 1754 Garrison building, blockhouses reconstructed in 1921, watch boxes reconstructed in 1988 and a palisade reconstructed in 1916. The reconstructions are based on archaeological evidence, written documents and surviving structures from the same era.

Alexis Burbank will lead a July 15 program at 4 p.m. at the library, where participants can make a small barn quilt on a wooden canvas. The project is not intended for outdoor display.

Jay Silber will give a blacksmithing demonstration at 10 a.m. July 22 at Kestral Ridge Forge, 647 Franklin Road in Jay.

Also July 22, the library will host Revolutionary Reads: The Women of the American Revolution at 4 p.m. Participants may choose from a selection of books at the library about women of the Revolutionary War era, read as many as they wish and discuss their selections. The program is intended to let participants share information on books they read and learn about others they may want to explore.

The Jay Historical Society-Holmes-Crafts Homestead, 14 Old Jay Hill Road in Jay, will host a July 29 program at 4 p.m. featuring books, archives and other artifacts from the near-Revolutionary War era.

The adult program will conclude Aug. 5 at 4 p.m. at the library with Castlebay performing “Songs of Revolutionary Times.”

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