Patten Free Library launches summer reading program with local prizes

Patten Free Library opened Summer Reading 2026 for families across Bath, West Bath, Woolwich and Arrowsic, giving children and adults a free way to read, complete activities and collect prizes from June 22 through Aug. 15. The program was open not only to library cardholders, but also to anyone who lived in the service area or attended an RSU 1 school or another school in that area.

The challenge was built around a bingo-style reading sheet that let participants of all ages earn rewards by reading books, attending library programs and finishing activities. The library also tied the program to local businesses, with gift card prizes that included Springer’s Jewelers, Bull Moose and Island Treasure Toys. Readers who completed blackout on the bingo sheet could enter drawings for those gift cards, adding a neighborhood-specific incentive to a summer routine many families already use to keep kids reading.

The library paired the reading challenge with a busy calendar of free events that stretched well beyond the page. Planned offerings included a puzzle race, Repair Café, Dungeons & Dragons sessions, cooking classes and visits from Sparks Ark, Portland Stage and Rewild Maine. Regular programs such as story times, book groups, foreign-language conversations and the Knitting Circle also continued, turning the summer calendar into a steady lineup rather than a one-day launch.

Library staff said the theme, Plant a Seed, Read, fit an audience that already showed up for a wide range of programs. More than 500 community members took part last year, giving the effort a clear record as one of the library’s most-used summer offerings. For parents in Bath and the surrounding towns, the appeal was practical as much as literary: a no-cost option for keeping children busy, a reason to check the library calendar and a local prize structure that kept the focus close to home through the end of the season.