Participation in the Pearl River County Library System’s summer reading program is expected to increase during its last week of this year.

Margaret Reed Crosby Memorial Library assistant Megan Nix Miller said over 300 children signed up for this year’s summer reading program at the Picayune location, which is about the same as last year. This year’s theme is “Libraries Rock.”

Miller said that any child who is part of the program and completes more than 15 hours of reading will be entered into a drawing for prizes. The prizes were purchased by the library and obtained from community donations.

She said the possibility of winning prizes motivated several children.

The program is entering into its sixth week. Miller said that each week the library saw about 120-170 children attend the Tuesday program, which aims to help children enhance their reading skills.

“Our goal is to motivate and inspire children to start reading,” Miller said.

She said many children who didn’t anticipate putting in one hour of reading during the summer break have logged in 17 hours of reading so far.

Not only does the program entice children to visit the library during the summer, they also get the opportunity to socialize with other children their age, she said.

Poplarville Library Manager Denise Davis said the Poplarville location saw about 79 children sign up for the program, and she expects to see an increase during its last week.

Davis said the library system has already started to plan next year’s theme, “Space, Universe of Stories.”