Read, read, read this summer at the Pima County public library! For more information, go to your local Pima County branch library or online at: www.library.pima.gov.. Here’s descriptions of each program (kids. teens, adults) from their website:

—For Kids
Pick up your free Make a Splash—READ! game board at any library beginning May 27, and use it to keep track of how many hours you read. Or, you, a parent or another responsible adult can log your hours online.

For every six hours you read, you earn prizes – stickers, pencils and much more!

All who read 24 hours by July 18 will receive a reading certificate and an Adventure Pass, which includes a ticket for four people to the Tucson Toros baseball finale at Hi Corbett Field on Sunday, July 25.

Six hours of extra reading earns you a pass to Breakers Water Park and a free paperback book.

—For Teens
Teens can pick up a free Make Waves @ Your Library reading booklet at any library beginning May 27, and use it to keep track of how many hours you read, or log your hours online.

You’ll earn prizes and gift coupons good at community businesses for every 10 hours read. Prizes include a $10 gift certificate to Bookmans and a backstage pass to the Make Sound Waves Rock Concert finale, where you’ll be able to party with performing bands in the Joel D. Valdez Main Library’s parking garage.

You can register online beginning May 27th or drop by your neighborhood library for additional details.

—For Adults
On June 5, 7:30-9:30 pm, bring your friends, family and picnic and celebrate Make a Splash-READ! with outdoor evening events at Himmel Park’s Amphitheater. Imagine classic instrumental surf tunes blasting from a ’49 Flathead Woody at our kick-off event, a concert featuring surfing music by a local favorite The El Camino Royales.

In July, catch the ultimate wave without leaving the state: it’s a screening of the film Endless Summer, the first and most influential film of the surf movie genre. That’s July 17, 8-10 pm. Both events are free and open to the public.

Then Make a Splash – READ! by tracking the hours you spend reading, as well as rating and reviewing books online. Just for signing up online (beginning May 27th ) with your email address, you’ll earn a chance to win our weekly drawing for a $5 Bookmans credit voucher.

Those who reach their personal reading goal will earn a Pima County Adventure Pass, a guide filled with coupons for reduced-price admissions to attractions throughout southern Arizona, including a discount towards a purchase at the Friends of the Library Book Barn.

Make a splash. Just check out your local library and read!

Most of us take living in a home for granted. Consider the 90,000 homeless in Los Angeles, as depicted in the recent movie “The Soloist”, about a talented former Julliard musician suffering from mental illness. Or think about the approximately 500 homeless teens living somewhere on the streets of Tucson.

I used to volunteer years ago at Travelers Aid, but the enormity of the problems faced by the homeless burned me out. I can only admire those who continue such tough work. The brother of a former friend of mine is homeless due to his drug addition to “ice. “ He used to be gainfully employed as an engineer, with a wife and two children, and a nice home. That’s all gone now.

Homeless deserve our respect as much as anyone else. It’s hard for them, especially since some in our society think they choose that lifestyle. For many, being on the streets is a way to escape domestic violence and sexual abuse. However they got there, this group of people are now home-less, without a house to live in, without basic shelter.

Agencies helping the homeless in Tucson: Primavera Foundation, 623-5111; Gospel Rescue Mission, 622-3495; Traveler’s Aid of Tucson, Inc. 622-8900.

For homeless teens, the group to call is Youth on Their Own (YOTO) at 293-1136 (www.yoto.org).  They are having a Charity Bowling Tournament on July 11, sponsored by the Arizona Roofing Contractors Association. Call now to participate and help.