This is an excerpt from Treehugger regarding Chicago’s “Read Green, Live Green” Summer Reading Program. . . reminding me of the stacks upon stacks of library books in the house, on the porch, at the beach all summer long. The mornings that were already hot and hazy, flipping through garden books in the garden, reading Blueberries for Sal and One Morning in Maine while eating homemade peanut butter and honey sandwiches with bits of crushed shells imbedded in them while at the beach, Bernstein Bears and Goodnight Moon while camping in the backyard or climbing up in the treehouse. . . so many wonderful memories and thousands upon thousands of books. . .

“As with all summer reading programs there’s a focus on getting kids to read, but here they’re also offering adults the opportunity to take part in a series of discussion groups aimed at celebrating nature while exploring the threats to it.

“Read Green, Live Green” Program Highlights

The program itself runs through August and offers books, reading tours and performances for both adults and children on such critical environmental issues as climate change, energy conservation and even farming.

And the folks behind it are quick to point out that roughly 45,000 kids read more than 1,000,000 books during last year’s summer reading program, which means there’s a terrific chance that a whole generation of Chicago school children will be reading about going green all summer long.

So hats off to the city of Chicago for making this summer reading program a green read indeed. Perhaps next year other cities and towns will pick up the ball and run with it, as a summer program like this can have an impact on kids for the rest of their lives.”

So I’d like to send this out in part to the local library I remember growing up in Maine, and also to libraries and children everywhere who are unconsciously being green while living in the most beautiful worlds that books introduce.