Mayor Dan Alemán is once again inviting all Mesquite kids ages 12 and under to join the Mesquite Mayor 1,000-Page Reading Challenge this summer.

The challenge, which coincides with the Mesquite Public Library System’s Summer Reading Club, runs from June 1 to July 31. Kids who read 1,000 pages or more will be invited to a party on Aug. 3 with the Mayor to enjoy pizza and prizes.

“Our goal is to help keep kids’ minds active and engaged over their summer break,” Mayor Alemán said. “We really encourage families to read together, and we’re very excited to see how many readers will go for the goal this year.”

Last summer, Mesquite kids read hundreds of thousands of pages, with 775 participating in the Summer Reading Club and more than 240 reaching or exceeding the 1,000-page mark.

Readers in the program also can earn prizes along the way for pages read as they reach for the 1,000-page goal. Even the youngest readers can participate in the challenge as kids can read the pages independently or have the pages read to them. Attendance at the Mesquite Public Library System’s weekly Story Time also can count toward pages read.

Registration opens June 1 for the Summer Reading Club and Mayor’s Reading Challenge. Parents can register their children in person at the Main Library or North Branch or by visiting mesquitelibrary.readsquared.com. Once registered, readers can log their pages read using READsquared, which also offers an app to track pages.

Kick Off parties launching the Summer Reading Club will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 1, at the North Branch (2600 Oates Dr.), and at 10 a.m. on Monday, June 3, at the Main Library (300 W. Grubb St.). To learn more, visit www.cityofmesquite.com/library.