What’s better than reading for fun? Winning prizes for reading for fun. The Mt. Lebanon Public Library’s Summer Reading Program begins today. Some of us have been training all year for this moment.

The theme of this year’s program is All Together Now, and you can sign up online or in person at the library. The program runs through August 3. For adults, the more you read, the more chances you get to win book bundles on a whole range of categories: romance, classics, thrillers, beach reads and lots more.

Read a book, get a ticket. Read two books, get two tickets. Write a review, get a ticket. Write two, get two, and it just goes up from there. Read three, get three. Total can’t lose situation.

But wait! There’s more. Take any or all of the four reading adventure challenges—history, food, travel and literature—read five books on each topic and get 10 raffle tickets.

The library has a few summer reading events planned: at 7 p.m., on Thursday, June 22, adult services librarian Eric Meisberger offers an introduction to Novelist, a database that suggests new titles based on your reading preferences. Meisberger and associate library director Sharon Bruni will host a book chat the following Thursday at 7, and close out the season with a party at the end of the program, 7 p.m., Monday, August 7.

For kids, you get a point for each book you read or for every 30 minutes of reading you complete. You choose how you track it.

You also can collect points for doing nice things for your family and neighbors. If you leave a note thanking your mail carrier or garbage collector, you get a point. Do a chore that isn’t your normal responsibility, you get another point.

Once you reach 20 points, you get a book to keep! Also, stop by the library each week for a brag tag.

At Mt. Lebanon Magazine, we’re getting in on the fun! Managing editor Merle Jantz signed up to participate in the adult summer reading program. He loves it so much, he’s actually signed up to participate in two summer reading programs this year.

Senior online editor Stephanie Hacke and her sixth month old daughter, Isabella, have signed up for the kid’s summer reading program. Since Isabella is too young to read, Bruni suggested the pair count books read aloud to her. With the help of her Aunt Jamie and her grandparents, they plan to read lots of books to Isabella this summer and hopefully instill a desire for lifelong learning.

Both Merle and Stephanie will blog about their experiences participating in the program throughout the summer. Follow along over the next month and a half as they share all the fun.

If you have youngsters, head over to the library this week to sign your kiddos up for the summer reading program. The energy in the Children’s Library this week is electric. You don’t want to miss it. And if you’re an adult, you don’t want to miss the fun. There’s a table set up in the library today to welcome you to the program.