Book It! 5K

The Hoover Public Library is kicking off its 2017 summer reading program with a Book It! 5K at Veterans Park on May 20.

The 3.2-mile run, sponsored by the Friends of the Hoover Library for adults and children alike, starts at 8 a.m. and will be followed by a “story stroll” around the lake at 9 a.m. The “story stroll” will allow children to read pages of a book at different stations as they walk around the lake.

From 10 a.m. to noon, the library is holding its summer reading kickoff party for kids of all ages, with inflatables, crafts, games, a petting zoo, balloon artist, airbrush tattoo artist, snacks and drinks, said Jeremy Davis, coordinator of the library’s children’s department.

Activities will be centered around this year’s theme for the summer reading program: Build a Better World.

Children will be allowed to plant a seed, build with Legos and participate in a collaborative art project by filling in the outline of the world with their thumbprints, Davis said.

May 20 will be the first day children are allowed to sign up for the summer reading program, in which children track the books they read over the summer and receive rewards for reaching various levels of pages read.