Laurie DeWitt/The Gazette Charlotte Cunningham, 6, concentrates on a book Friday at Germantown Community Library. The library is sponsoring numerous activities to promote summer reading.

Summer has arrived at Germantown Community Library.

Montgomery County Department of Libraries' summer reading program, "Buggy About Reading," is officially under way across the county, and the Germantown Community Library has big plans for young readers in the area.

From now until the end of August, children can sign up for the program at the library, where they will receive a free bag that includes a reading activity log, a book list of reading suggestions, and a special prize.

Anytime during August, summer readers will be able to stop by the library to pick up their summer reading certificates and a coupon for a free book from the Barnes & Noble book list. With the permission of their parents, the names of participating children will be added to the library's Web site and will appear in The Gazette.

According to Maria Pedak-Kari, branch manager at Germantown Community Library, the summer reading program serves multiple purposes.

"If children stop reading in the summer, their reading level declines," Pedak-Kari said. "We want them to return to school in September reading at the same, if not a higher level than they were when school let out in June.

"Furthermore, the summer reading program allows children to explore and read new books," she said. "They are not under any academic pressure and have no specific assignments that they have to complete."

The reading program at the Germantown library is off to a strong start as 1,150 participants signed up between June 19 and June 25, the first week of the program.

In order to make the summer reading program more appealing, librarians have set up art displays in the library dealing with insects such as ants and spiders. Children who sign up for the program can color in pictures of insects, which are hung on the walls of the library.

There is also a ballot box in the library where children are able to vote for their favorite books.

"These suggestions are then hung up on the wall," explained Pedak-Kari. "Hopefully this will give other kids an idea of what books they want to read this summer."

Book lists developed by the library and area schools can also be found in the library in order to give kids ideas for summer reading.

The library has also scheduled a number of events to take place during the summer. The Maryland Science Center's program "Brain Benders: Exciting Scientific Phenomenon" will take place July 18 at 2 p.m. for children in kindergarten through sixth grade and their families. Free tickets will be available beginning July 16.

"Redskins Readmobile" will take place July 30 at 1:30 p.m. During this event, players' helmets and jerseys will be on display, and children will be able to test their knowledge of Redskins trivia. Free tickets are available starting July 23.

On Aug. 9 at 2 p.m., musical group The Battery Duo will perform. Free tickets will be available beginning Aug. 8.

"We are expecting tickets to go extremely fast," said Pedak-Kari. "People will need to get here early to get tickets."

In addition to these events, a preschool story time takes place every Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m.

"These sessions have a regular following," said Pedak-Kari. "We typically do these during the school year, however this is the first summer we have done it and attendance has been high so far."

Critical to the success of the summer reading program has been the help of 42 students who have volunteered their time to stay at the library all day in order to oversee registration.

"These students have dedicated a great deal of their time to doing this," Pedak-Kari said. "The program would not have been able to happen without them."

This is the third summer Matt Eldrige of Boyds has helped to register reading program participants.

"I work at the library one day each week during the summer for two hours," he said. "I make sure that kids come and pick up their bags to start their summer reading."

According to Pedak-Kari, during the school year there is not enough staff at the Germantown library to place significant emphasis on elementary school students.

"When the summer reading program ends, focus is placed on preschool reading programs during the school year," Pedak-Kari said. "We also have a program for homework support."

Nevertheless, Pedak-Kari is optimistic that when the library relocates to Germantown Town Center, which is scheduled to take place in 2006, the library will have a larger staff and more space to work with.