It was the year 2000 when Chantay Collins first held Summer Reading at Maynardville Public Library. The program, aimed and keeping kids reading during the summer months, started with just 20 kids. This year, participants will top 300, and those kids have clocked more than 10,000 hours of reading so far.

“It’s just snowballed,” said Collins, who is the director of Maynardville Public Library. “We went from having it in the library to next door in the Senior Center because we have so many kids.”

There are storytimes every Tuesday and Thursday, plus incentives to get kids reading.

“If we can get the kids to read 20 minutes every day, they will typically go up a reading level over the summer,” said Collins. “It’s important to keep kids reading. We’ve been telling them that it’s not how fast you read, it’s enjoying what you read. We’re trying to teach the love of reading.”

This year, for every two hours of reading, summer readers get to throw a ping pong ball into a box filled with jars, and each jar holds a prize. If the ball doesn’t go into a jar, the reader gets a special building block. Collins said the change is showing results.

“By doing it this way, they’re reading more,” she said. “Just by changing it up a little we’ve noticed that they’re going, ‘I’ve got to get more books!’”

While the program’s core is reading, that’s not the only skill or experience kids get from Summer Reading. Special programs include Super Scientist Mr. Rich, Ijams Nature Center and Big Ridge State Park. Kids enrolled at the STEM program at Horace Maynard Middle School get hands-on STEM projects, and elementary school kids get building days.

That goes hand-in-hand with this year’s Summer Reading theme, “Build a Better World.” Other programs include building fairy houses, making buttons and games like Marble Run. Collins has a love of costumes, and this year she’s traded her signature Cat in the Hat costume for a “steampunk” outfit to fit the theme.

Summer Reading is also a place for kids who would normally eat at school to get good meals during the summer months. Collins said Union County Public Schools provides breakfast and lunch for kids in the Summer Reading program.

While Summer Reading is a lot of work for Collins and her staff, she also looks forward to it every year.

“I know that I’m going to see some of those kids that I don’t see during the school year,” she said. “I’ve watched these kids grow up. A couple of years ago I got to see my first kindergarten class graduate, kids I’ve seen go from infants to adulthood. Some are even coming in with their babies now. I’m seeing multiple generations.

“Plus, I get to be a big kid whenever I do this. I’m a grownup, but I like to be a big kid, too.”

Summer Reading has a few more weeks to go before the finale July 15. The celebration will include watermelon and ice cream, a 100-foot slip-and-slide, prizes and much more.

Collins thanked everyone who continues to make Summer Reading possible, including Friends of the Library, United Way, Becca Hughes of UT Extension, Union County Public Schools and the Union County Senior Center.

Info: www.maynardvillepubliclibrary.org