The staff at the Albert Lea Public Library is hoping that when it comes to reading, local kids will have a &uot;Star-Spangled Summer.&uot;

The summer reading program begins Monday, June 3, and ends Friday, July 26.

The purpose of the program is to keep kids reading during the summer. &uot;With summer, they can choose things that didn’t necessarily have time to read during the school year,&uot; Children’s Librarian Staci Waltman said.

There will be some incentives for kids to read. Kids can come into the library beginning June 3 and register, then pick up a reading ticket. They can fill in a star for every day they read 20 minutes or more. When the ticket, which has 15 stars on it is full, bring it to the library and redeem it for a prize.

There will be time to complete three tickets during the program. With completion of the first ticket, kids get a patriotic prize. The second completed ticket yields a book to keep, and the third is a button which states the child read over 900 minutes this summer, as well as a beach ball, because &uot;reading is a ball,&uot; Waltman said.

Every completed ticket will be put in a drawing and winners will be drawn at the Freeborn County Fair.

&uot;Goal-setting keeps kids on task,&uot; Waltman said.

Kids who are going on vacation right away when school gets out are welcome to come in and sign up any time during the summer. &uot;We’ve also got 80 kids signed up so far to volunteer this summer,&uot; the librarian said.

Waltman said she likes the fact that kids are encouraged to read for a certain amount of time each day, rather than striving for a large number of books. That way, kids who are reading longer books can feel like they’ve accomplished something.

Kids who can’t yet read can also participate in the program if a parent reads to them for at least 20 minutes a day.

Travel kits are available at the library for children when they go on vacation or away for a weekend. The kits contain books, cassettes, audio books, music CDs and activity sheets.

Materials will be checked out for their normal circulation period unless a longer period is requested. Library staff needs at least a week to prepare the kits. Travel kits forms are available at the children’s room front desk.

A number of other activities are also planned for the summer.

Summer story times for ages 3 and up will be at 10 a.m. Tuesdays and 2 p.m. Wednesdays.

Terrific Tuesdays, for ages 5-12, will be held at 2 p.m. The group will create crafts, play a game or partake in a demonstration.

A patriotic bookmark contest will be held from June 3-21.

Magician Jim Jayes will present the &uot;Magical World of Books&uot; at 1 and 2 p.m. Wednesday, June 12, in the multipurpose room.

A whole load of Legos will be loaned to the library from Lego Land June 17-21. Kids can come in and create in the children’s library back room.

Patriotic face painting will be held from 2-4 p.m. Wednesday, July 3, in the children’s library.

Juggler Larry Nordstrom will perform at 11 a.m. Wednesday, July 10, in the multipurpose room.

The second annual talent show will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday, July 18, in the multipurpose room.

The star-spangled finale will take place at 3 p.m. Friday, July 26, in the multipurpose room.

Waltman said the following groups and businesses contributed to the summer reading program: The Friends of the Library, Exchange Club, Lions Club, Rotary Club, Eagles Club and ShopKo.