By Melissa J. Oleen

Rowan Public Library

By the time this goes to press, Rowan Public Library will be heading into the third week of its summer reading programming. It’s never too late to join in, and here are my top 10 reasons why your child or grandchild should participate.

1) There is a program for everyone at every age. The library offers 21 different programs each week for seven weeks, and that does not include movie night or adult programming.

2) The theme this year is “Every Hero Has a Story.” Who doesn’t love a good hero story? And not just Marvel Comics — the library has plenty of hero stories from different backgrounds including biblical, mythological, cultural, political and even four-legged friends.

3) This is not school. Summer reading is fun reading and all about self-selection. The advantages of free, voluntary reading include better spelling, writing style and grammatical development without the tests.

Remember, what your child considers fun may be drastically different from your own perception of fun reading. Accept this. One of the easiest ways to deter a child from reading is to criticize their reading selection. No book is too silly, too juvenile, too wordy, too big, too picture-filled, too old, too popular or too thin. If a book holds your child’s attention and gets them to read on their own, then it’s a good start.

4) Have a tight summer budget? Summer budget non-existent? Library programs are free.

5) Library programs provide an easy way to include quality reading activities in your child’s summer vacation. Programs developed by our children’s staff include activities that encourage some of the best techniques identified by research as being important to the reading process.

6) Library programs strive to meet the social needs of youth and make them feel safe, cared for, useful and valued.

7) Coming to the library provides children with immediate access to an extensive collection of reading materials in a variety of formats.

8) Summer is a great time to do things you may not have time to due the rest of the year. At the library, you and your young reader can experiment with alternate formats such as online magazines, digital and recorded audio books, graphic novels and electronic books. Finding the right format for your young reader can be just as important as finding the right subject or genre.

9) Studies show that reading for pleasure can reduce stress. What family doesn’t experience summer stress with everybody home and the temperatures rising?

10) It’s not just for the kids. Summer reading is a family activity. Parents can participate in the library’s Adult Summer Reading Program and, like the kids, track time spent reading and possibly win a prize of their own.

Information about our Summer Reading Program is available on our website (and below) or email info@rowancountync.gov and ask to be put on our email list.

Summer reading:  Every Hero Has a Story! Reading hours may be tracked through Aug. 8. Prizes for children who read one, five, 10, 15 and 20 hours. Children who read 20 hours get a special certificate and are entered in the 20-Hour Reader Raffle on Aug. 10. Door prizes raffled at weekly programs. To enter, children write and submit a Super Reader Review before the start of the program.

Weekly programs run until July 30.

Wonders: 12- to 24-month-olds — Through July 9. Headquarters, Wednesday, 10 a.m.; East Branch, Monday, 10 a.m.; South Rowan Regional, Thursday, 10:30 a.m.

Marvels: 2-year-olds — Through July 9. All at 10:30 a.m. Headquarters, Thursday; East, Tuesday; South Rowan, Wednesday.

Mighty Readers: 3- to 5-year-olds — Through July 30. All at 10:30 a.m.; Headquarters, Tuesday; East, Thursday; South Rowan, Monday.

Super Readers: Rising first- through fifth-graders — Through July 30. Headquarters, Wednesday, 2 p.m.; East, Wednesday, 10:30 a.m.; South Rowan, Tuesday, 2 p.m.; Cleveland Town Hall, Thursday, 10:30 a.m.

Performer lineup — June 29-July 3, Rags to Riches; July 6-10, Ro & Mo; July 13-17, Zelnik the Magician; July 20-24, Mother Minter; July 27-31, Lee Street Theatre.

Teen summer reading: “UnMask” Summer Reading Program through July 31, all rising sixth-graders to 12th-graders may participate. Teens can earn library dollars to be used to enter raffles on prizes provided by Friends of Rowan Public Library and other local organizations.

Programs will be 3:30-5 p.m. on Tuesdays at Headquarters; Wednesdays, East; and Thursdays at South Rowan.

Prize raffles will be drawn at the National Teen Lock-in at Headquarters on Friday, July 31, 6:30-10:30 p.m.

Villainous Art: Graffiti art and other villainous activities — Headquarters, June 30;  East, July 1; South Rowan, July 2.

Game Show Challenge: How well do you know your superheroes? — Headquarters, July 7; East, July 8; South Rowan, July 9.

Hero’s Challenge: Which hero will survive? — Headquarters, July 14; East, July 15; South Rowan, July 16.

UnMasked: Mask-making and T-shirt designing — Headquarters, July 21; East, July 22; South Rowan, July 23.

National Teen Lock-in: End of summer celebration — Headquarters, July 31, 6:30-10:30 p.m.

Adults summer reading: Adults ages 18 and older may “Escape the Ordinary” at the library through reading, movies and more.

To participate, adults must sign up at www.rowanpubliclibrary.org. Participants may pick up an information packet which contains details on how to track reading hours, prize levels, activities, program information and more. Reading hours may be tracked through Aug. 8. Prizes include gift cards and two tablet computers. Prize winners will be announced at the end-of-summer celebration, Be Your Own Hero; participants do not have to be present to win.

Adults may attend special programs including Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find, led by Andrew Mansell, local comic book enthusiast. Monday, July 20, 6:30 p.m., headquarters; Tuesday, 6:30 p.m., South Rowan Regional. Mansell will discuss the importance of comics and how they have changed but remained a popular and sometimes controversial source of reading for people of all generations. Mansell is passionate about four things: his family, classical music, baseball and, of course, great comics.

Summer movie series: All movies start at 6:30 p.m. Headquarters. July 7, “The Incredibles” (G); July 14, “Mockingjay Part I” (PG13); July 21, “Captain Phillips” (PG13); July 28, “The Boxtrolls” (PG). Movies are free and all ages are welcome. Children should be accompanied by an adult. Free popcorn and lemonade.

On Wednesdays at 2 p.m. at South Regional: July 1, “Big Hero 6” (PG); July 8, “Miracle” (PG); July 15, “How to Train Your Dragon 2” (PG); July 22, “The Incredibles” (G); July 29, “The Boxtrolls” (PG).

Book Bites Club: July 28, 6:30 p.m., “The Fault in Our Stars,“ by John Green. Book discussion groups for adults and children at South Rowan Regional Library meet the last Tuesday of each month. Open and anyone is free to join at any time. There is a discussion of the book as well as light refreshments. For more information, call 704-216-7841.

Displays: Headquarters, Joseph Heilig and Rowan Doll Society; South, photography by Aaron Cress; East, vintage fashions by Alice Thompson.

Literacy: Call the Rowan County Literacy Council at 704-216-8266 for more information on teaching or receiving literacy tutoring for English speakers or for those for whom English is a second  language.