COEUR d’ALENE — Two North Idaho libraries are working to stymie the “summer slide.”

The Coeur d’Alene Public Library is offering science-themed summer reading programs for children and teens, encouraging kids to read through incentives and fun events.

Stop Summer Slide, a pilot project through the Idaho Commission for Libraries, is keeping the school library at Fernan Elementary open Tuesdays and Thursdays during the summer to allow students on summer vacation access to books.

“ICfL is working with Boise State University literacy professor Dr. Roger Stewart to research whether opening school libraries over the summer can maintain or increase youth literacy skills,” the ICfL stated in a press release.

The “summer slide” occurs when young minds sit idle for three months, according to the ICfL. Research from the National Summer Learning Association shows that kids lose learning skills during the summer, both in reading and mathematics, and the children more likely to lose those skills are from lower-income families.

“It’s basically kids and teens making the choice to read for pleasure,” said Laura Jenkins, young adult services coordinator for the Coeur d’Alene Public Library. “They get so overwhelmed with having to do reading during the school year that it is the last thing that they want to do when they hit the summer months. And that’s where summer learning loss starts, is by kids making the choice to not engage in educational activities in their free time.”

This is the second year for the Coeur d’Alene Public Library’s teen program, which requires teens to fill out reading logs and read at least 20 minutes a day or 25 hours through the 11 weeks of summer. Readers who turn in weekly logs will be entered into weekly drawings to win prizes like Amazon.com gift cards and gift cards for Gooey’s Desserts at Dockside. A grand prize drawing for a Kindle Fire HDX will take place Aug. 30, with the first-place prize of a $50 Amazon.com gift card and a goodie/book basket for the second-place prize. The teen program is for youths ages 13 to 18.

The children’s summer program has been in place for many years and is offered to kids age 12 and younger. It also requires young readers to keep track of their reading time in logs. Jenkins said they will get a prize for every three hours they complete and if they complete 18 hours of reading through the summer they will receive a free book. Story programs and other social/educational activities will be available for children at the library during the summer.

Jenkins said more than 50 teens participated in the program using the summer reading logs last year, while more than 200 participated in summer events overall. She hopes to see at least double that this year.

“We’re hoping that it becomes more of a gathering space for the community, that’s our eventual vision for what the library can be,” she said. “It isn’t just about checking out books, or DVDs, or audio books anymore, it’s about having an experience and being able to learn something, whether that’s in conversation with another person, through an event or using the materials that we have.”

Thanks to the ICfL project, kids will be able to check out books at the Fernan Elementary library Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through Aug. 7.

The Coeur d’Alene Public Library is offering its summer reading programs from today through Aug. 30. Kids and teens can visit the library at 702 E. Front Avenue to pick up their reading logs. Reading hours can now be entered online at http://bit.ly/SRPlogs or in person.

Visit www.cdalibrary.org for information about the summer reading programs at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library or www.cdaschools.org/fernan to learn about the Stop Summer Slide program.