The Charleston Carnegie Public Library is offering several free activities for families during the summer.

Arts and crafts activities for children and families include designing and building a mini golf course, Harry Potter wand making, designing a skateboard as well as assembling a giant dinosaur skeleton.

Other fun events such as movie nights, card games, and Animal Olympics are available.

The annual reading program, “Read for the Win,” is also open to all ages. Registration, residency or library card are not required to participate. The program continues all summer long with weekly prizes offered.

According to Beth Lugar, the library’s youth services manager, readers do not have to read only library books and can read anything, from the back of a cereal box to comic strips and game instructions.

Participants are required to read at least two hours or choose to participate in one activity per week to be eligible for prizes. Those who meet this requirement will win weekly prizes that vary based on the week and the participant’s age, including a voucher for a free DQ Blizzard, personal pizzas, or book. Reading minutes can be submitted online or in person.

Weekly readers are also entered for a chance to win gift cards, free movie passes, a Kindle Fire, and more. Participants will receive more entries towards the grand prize for more reading hours submitted.

“You can pick up and start any time. If you miss a week, don’t freak out. You can still participate. If you do not have a computer, come in. Use our computers, and pick up your prize right then” Lugar said.

Interested persons can contact the library at 345-4913.

A full calendar of events can be found here.

Destiny Bell can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected]