Patchogue-Medford Library’s newest reading program is designed to give kids a jump-start into books. Photo courtesy of Kim Morales.

It’s never too early to show kids everything they can learn from books. Patchogue-Medford Library’s “Read Me Into Kindergarten” program can help parents set up a reading program for young children from infant to pre-school age.

The goal of the program is for parents to read 250 books to their kids before starting Kindergarten. While the number may sound ambitious at first glance, Children’s Librarian Nancy Senzamici says it breaks down to less than a book per day when starting a year before entering elementary school.

“Really it boils down to spending a few minutes a day cuddling and reading with your child so that reading is a positive experience and they are learning along the way,” Senzamici said of the program, which she organizes.

To begin the program, a child first needs to get set up with a Patchogue-Medford Library card. Then, they can head downstairs to the Children’s Department with a parent or guardian, where they can sign up for the program. Families will receive a book guideline, a picture book bibliography, their first page of a reading log and a tote bag for taking books back and forth to the library.

There are no set books, so kids are free to take home and read whatever interests them from the shelves of Patchogue-Medford Library. As kids record the books they read on a reading log, they can earn stickers and prizes throughout the journey to 250 books.

Also, as kids proceed through the program, librarians will be able to use the titles listed in the logs as suggestions to other families in case they need help picking books to read.

Anyone with questions on the program can visit the Children’s Department on the lower level of the Patchogue-Medford Library or call the library at 631-654-4700.