Young readers celebrate their accomplishment

The Carmel Valley Library’s summer reading program concluded last week with a puppet show and raffle. The puppet show featuring Swazzle’s River Otter Circus had a huge crowd of giggling readers in attendance.

The library called this year’s reading program a success this year, with 1,087 readers finishing the program. To complete the task, 899 children under age 12 each had to read 10 books or 10 hours. A total of 188 teenagers read 10 hours or more to complete the program. For their work, readers received all kinds of prizes, including San Diego Padres tickets.

After the puppet show, the children headed into the library to see how they fared in the raffle. A security guard had to circulate the children’s section with a sign reminding the excitable readers to stay quiet inside the library. Many children were already selecting their next book to read.