The Charleston library will be hosting their annual “Star Wars Reads” Day at 5 p.m. Wednesday in the Rotary Rooms A and B.

Beth Lugar, the youth services manager at the Charleston Carnegie Public Library, said this year is going to be different from previous years.

“It’s universal appeal for girls and boys, adults and kids,” Lugar said.

The theme for this year’s Star Wars day is “The Science of Star Wars,” and families are invited to come and engage children in reading.

During the event, children will be able to make Luke Skywalker’s robotic hand out of straw, paper and string, make a slimy nebula and be placed into a scene from Star Wars.

Lugar said there will also be a Jedi training area and kids will be able to create their own Cloud City.

“(The kids) will put ivory soap in the microwave and then just mess around with it,” Lugar said.

The children will be able to be placed in a scene with characters Ray and BB-8 after they take their picture in front of a green screen. They will also be able to test their Star Wars knowledge and see how many characters they can name from the first six movies.

“One of our Eastern student volunteers, Daniel Curtis, has a hovercraft,” Lugar said. “The kids will get to see a real live hover craft.”

Lugar said there would be a raffle that will be called out every 15 minutes with different prizes, including Star Wars plush toys and a Millennium Falcon necklace.

The children will also be able to take a photo with the cardboard cutouts of some of the characters and posters that are hanging around the rotary rooms.

Lugar said the events are aimed at kids to keep them engaged and let them have fun.

“There’s really nothing you can do that doesn’t involve reading as far as careers,” Lugar said. “If we keep on them while they’re young enough, by the time they’re in college if they have a really low reading level it’s very difficult to catch up.”

Lugar said all of the programs the library provides are free and that people do not need a library card to attend.

“You don’t even need to live in town, so anybody can do it,” Lugar said.  “We try to offer programs that the community will respond to.”

Mackenzie Freund can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected]