“These free electronic books allow Island children and their parents to access books wherever they are this summer,” said the Honourable Elmer MacFadyen, Minister of Community and Cultural Affairs. “Reading is not an activity we save for the school year. By providing high interest books over the web, parents can encourage their children to continue reading while on summer vacation. It is our hope that this program along with a number of other initiatives will help to build a life long love of reading among young people.”

The program will see 60 books suitable for children up to age 10 available on the internet at one time. These titles are from 14 publishers including Albert Whitman & Co., Bank Street, Carolrhoda Books, and Random House.

“Instead of playing games online, we can encourage our children to check out a book and start reading. We're hoping the “cool” factor will get and keep kids reading,” said Allan Groen, Provincial Librarian.

To access e-books go to http://ebookbuddies.com, click on Books and Browse By Title (you can search by title, Author, publisher, age or subject). The password “library” is required to access e-books. To download e-books you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader downloaded on your computer. This program is available for free on the Internet at www.adobe.com. Children who enter their community name in the town contest can win a gift certificate to their local bookstore.

By reading as little as 15 minutes per day over the summer, children maintain, and even improve their reading. For other activities that make reading fun, please contact your local library to join the TD Summer Reading Program.