Wow, it’s official! 5,565 children, 718 teens and 1,326 adults signed up for summer reading, which is the largest enrollment since the library started keeping stats. The library sends a big thank you to those who read thousands of hours during summer break.

Keep reading because prizes can still be had! Hours can be tracked through noon Friday, July 29, and prizes for kids can be picked up at the Youth Services desk this Saturday, when Summerfest concludes with Larger than Life Game Day from 10am-2pm. Play super-sized games stationed throughout the library.

For adults, the last drawing for the adult weekly giveaways was Tuesday, July 26. The drawing for the grand prize Nook will be Friday, July 29.

Summer reading is not just for fun. Studies show that kids who read even 12 hours over the summer maintain or improve their reading skills by the time school starts in the fall.

In addition to breaking reading enrollment records, attendance at our cool summer programs increased. Attendance at elementary programs was up 85 percent, teen programs up 16 percent and preschool programs up 3 percent.

We hope Summerfest 2011 was as fun for you as it was for us. Write down a couple of your memories from your summer at the library in the comment section below.

Also, special thanks to our partners who help make Summerfest possible. Check out a list of our supporters here: summerfest.tscpl.org.