As school ends for summer, Cape Elizabeth residents of all ages are encouraged to keep reading.

Thomas Memorial Library’s summer reading program launched Tuesday, June 17, and will continue through Aug. 23, offering challenges and prizes for young children, tweens, teens and adults.

The theme for this year and following years is Building a Better World, and Community Engagement Librarian Sasha Kohan hopes it will encourage an exploration of “anything from sustainability to community building to several themes like kindness and gratitude.”

“It’s important to us to remind people that the value of libraries is not just having resources that are accessible,” Kohan said. “It’s also about community building.”

Participants in the Early Literacy Program, designed for pre-readers from infants to 3-year-olds, will pick up a bingo card full of family-friendly challenges like “touch the water in a lake or ocean,” “read outside” and “play with something gooey.” If they complete all 16 squares, they receive a free board book and an opportunity to win a grand prize.

For readers ages 4 to 11, the library offers a different bingo card and the bead-to-read program, an attempt to cut down on material prizes. For each completed square, the child receives a bead for a necklace, and if someone completes all 16 squares, they receive a special pendant for their necklace and a chance to win the grand prize. Challenges include items like “write and deliver a letter to a friend,” “read a book about a cause you care about” and “explore the library garden.” 

Children can complete as many of the bingo cards as they like and earn as many beads as they want.

Teens and tweens can choose to participate in the bead-to-read program in addition to age-specific challenges. Upon the completion of their bingo card, with challenges like reading a “banned or challenged book,” “volunteer for a local organization” and “read on the beach,” readers ages 12 to 17 can win a gift card to a local business and be entered in the teen grand prize raffle.

The adult summer reading program has a slightly shorter timeframe, ending on Aug. 9. There are four grand prize bundles, each with a novel, a nonfiction book, a piece of art by a Maine artist, and a gift card to a local business. Challenges include “read a book outside your worldview” and “plant something.” Each completed challenge translates into one raffle ticket, and each person is allowed up to 20 raffle tickets.

As technology becomes more invasive and obtrusive, Kohan urges readers of all ages to pick up a book or two or 20 this summer.

“There’s a lot to be gained by sitting down and reading a physical book and sharing that experience with others and yourself,” said Kohan.