Public libraries in Hawaii will conduct the children’s summer reading program beginning Monday. The goal this summer — the program’s 46th year — is boosting participation among Hawaii’s youngest readers.

Library officials hope to attract at least 2,000 more children to the program as part of a push to link library activities to student achievement. Students specifically targeted are readers (or soon-to-be readers) in preschool through third grade.

Research has shown that summer reading can help children, especially those from low-income families, counteract "learning loss" over long summer breaks from school.

More than 17,000 children from preschool through sixth grade participated in the summer reading program last year, finishing at least one book a week during a five-week period.

Kids who meet reading goals get small prizes.

Since 2007, participation in the children’s summer reading program has grown by about 16 percent, or about 2,300 kids.

Participation in a teen reading program for seventh-graders and above, however, has fluctuated, from a high of about 3,300 in 2008 to a low of 2,900 in 2009. Some 3,065 teens participated statewide last year.

A host of activities is planned for this summer to get kids — and their parents or grandparents — to libraries, said Susan Nakata, head of the library development services section.

"We just want to encourage reading," she said.

Libraries are looking to boost participation in the reading program as part of a push to bolster student achievement. The Board of Education has asked the library system, which is under the Department of Education, to become more attuned to how its programs could help public schools and their students.

Hawaii’s children’s summer reading program began in 1967, while its teen-centered offshoot kicked off in 1992. The program was threatened by budget cuts but is now entirely funded by sponsors, including the Friends of the Library of Hawaii.

About $225,000 in donations go to the program annually.