Everyone was screaming for ice cream as Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library celebrated the end of its summer reading challenge Aug. 15 with a social on the lawn, sponsored by Blanchard’s Creamery.  

According to Children's Coordinator Jen Betts, 120 kids participated in the program this year. The theme of the challenge was “Level Up!" and boasted four different levels with unique tasks. Each tier also had multiple forks in the road, so participants would customize their adventure path. For every level completed, kids earned an individual prize and five raffle tickets for BHML’s grand prize drawing.  

The grand prizes were nothing to sneeze at. Participants got the chance to win Squishmallows (a type of stuffed toy), Sherman's gift cards, Monkey C Monkey Do passes, passes to the Harbor Theater and Smitty’s Cinema, family game packs, summer-reading themed merchandise, or one of the popular “library experiences” (Librarian-for-a-day, or a library pizza party).  

“Today is just about celebrating reading. It's fun to have ice cream and just recognize all the kids have done this summer,” said Betts.