The Library’s summer reading program has been an annual tradition for 86 years.  Part fun, part lifelong learning, and part “summer slide” prevention, the 2016 program attracted 4,929 children and teens, and challenged them to keep track of minutes read through incentive-based reading goals.   This summer had the biggest overall registration ever, and the largest number of teens participating at 1,260.  The total minutes read was just under 2 million.  In addition to supporting reading activities, the Library also provided 406 entertaining and educational programs during the 10-week program, attended by over 15,624 youth and their families.  The Library supports the school district’s summer reading lists by providing hundreds of copies of assigned books for checkout, as well as print and digital copies of the high school summer book given to teens for free.  The Library’s summer program is sponsored by the Friends of the Santa Monica Public Library, the Kiwanis Club, and local businesses.