MORELAND — The Snake River School Community Library’s summer reading program, themed “Unearth A Story” this year, has just gotten underway, and there is lots of fun to be had and some cool prizes to win.

Sherrilynn Bair, library director for the Snake River School Community Library, said that this summer’s theme is centered around dinosaurs.

“Today, for example, the Idaho Museum of Natural History brought out a trailer with dinosaur bones and exhibits and pictures of dinosaur habitats,” she said. “The kids can walk through, and it’s interactive. We also had multiple activities inside the library related to the dinosaur theme.”

The summer reading program is held every year during June. While Bair says the library is open all day and people are welcome at any time, the summer reading program takes place on Tuesday and Wednesday during June at 10 a.m and 1 p.m. Bair said it lasts about an hour or so.

“Today was the first day, and we had 175 kids and 87 parents,” she said. “We will typically see between 700 and 1,000 sign up for the program each summer. They don’t all come every week, but we plan for that many.”

The program is designed to keep kids reading through the summer to help stave off a loss of reading level during the summer months, something often referred to as “the summer slide.” Students are given a certain number of minutes they should read during the summer based on their age. If they fulfill that requirement, they are given 10 tickets that go into a box for prizes that are raffled off at the end of the summer.

“One of the unique things about our library is we have had 3D printers for many years,” Bair said. “Many of the decorations we have for the program this year are made with the 3D printer. We are giving away a 3D-printed dinosaur skull as one of the prizes.”

While the program is hosted at the library during June, kids are encouraged to continue reading through July, and if they don’t get in all their minutes by the end of this month, they can finish them next month and still get in the raffle.

“They can track their reading minutes in a reading chart that we have or through an app,” Bair said.

While helping the students maintain their reading level during the summer is one reason the library has its summer reading program, the other reason is to continue to promote a love of reading.

Snake River School Community Library has brought in additional books directly related to its “Unearth A Story” theme, but the students are welcome to read whatever interests them. There is no restriction.

The program also continues its very popular story time for the younger children.

“We have a strong story time program during the school year, and we have had some families express a desire for it to continue during the summer, so we are trying it this year,” Bair said. “We sing, and we dance, and we have hand actions and we learn about letters and numbers. It’s a very active story time.”

For more information on the Snake River School Community Library summer reading program, check its website at www.snakeriverlibrary.com.