We had a great response to our Summer Reading Program this year at the Kingston library. This article is being written in mid-August when we have at least 66 “ants” decorating our walls. Each ant represents a minimum of 10 hours read by a participant and many of the ants have colored stars on them: each star stands for an additional 10 hours of reading. When all of the readers start back into their fall studies in September, they will have the benefit of all of those hours of reading to keep them in great shape for their schoolwork!

For those young people signed up for the Summer Reading Program that read over 20 hours, there will be a Super Summer Reader Party at 2 p.m. Sept. 6 at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds. This invitation-only event for readers (and their families) is sponsored by the Kitsap Regional Library, the Kitsap Regional Library Foundation and Kitsap County. It will feature entertainment, refreshments, and awards recognition and is a way to celebrate reading and its value!

To help encourage reading in our younger customers, this month we will be beginning a new series of Story Times for Little Ones, 18 months to 6 years of age. The story times take place on Mondays (except for the first one in September, which is a holiday) at 10:30 a.m. in the library.

The Kingston Library Book Group will discuss “March,” by Geraldine Brooks, during its regular meeting at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3 in the downstairs Indianola Room of the Kingston Community Center. Brooks writes about Captain March, father of Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women.” Set during the Civil War, the story weaves in the topics of history, romance, abolition, politics and culture of the times.

Would you like to attend our book group, but the Wednesday morning slot is not a convenient time for you? Let us know what day and time might work better and what titles you’d like to read and discuss. We will consider starting up another group if enough people express interest.

The Kingston Friends of the Library resumes their monthly meetings again after a summer hiatus. They meet at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9, downstairs in the Indianola room.

Just a heads-up for October – we will be encouraging everyone to read “To Kill a Mockingbird” for a countywide event: One Book/One Community. Come on in and check it out!

Susan Lavin is manager of the Kingston branch of Kitsap Regional Library. The Kingston library is located in the Kingston Community Center, 11212 Highway 104. For more information on events, call (360) 297-3330 or go to the KRL Web site at www.krl.org.