There's going to be a very special party behind The Library of the Chathams Thursday afternoon.

The gathering is intended to honor the 547 children who participated in the library's summer reading club. The children read about 7,000 books in total throughout the summer.

The Chatham Kiwanis certainly feel the club is important. They are sponsoring the hot dog picnic that is intended to honor its participants. It will take place on the fields behind the library from 3:45 to 5 p.m. Thursday. The Women's Club also pays for musical entertainment.

The Kiwanis have been sponsoring the program for about the past 25 years, according to library Director Diane O'Brien.

Kiwanis member Ron Whalin said the tradition began after several of the club's members became involved with the Friends of the Library, the all-volunteer group that raises funds and orchestrates library activities.

"It's consistent with the mission Kiwanis has—to serve children and youth—and we've had a close supportive relationship with the library," Whalin said.

O'Brien said the library does not have to pay anything for event, since it is totally sponsored by the community groups.

Only program participants who have completed all of the required reading receive invitations to the event.

She said children can come into the library at any time after they've finished a book to talk about the books with volunteers on hand. They also answer questions volunteers ask them about the books.

After all that work, O'Brien said, the program is a welcome diversion.

"They have a wonderful time," she said. "They just come and celebrate."

The books the children read vary based on their grade level, and the library keeps a log of the books read.

O'Brien said the program has shown its effectiveness over the years.

"The kids are reading better at the end of the summer than they were at the beginning, because they're reading what they want to read, and they're talking to somebody," she said. "It's not a school assignment. They're not being graded."

Some of the children, she said, come into the summer not necessarily convinced they will enjoy the program, or not sure how to describe the books they read.

But that quickly changes.

"At the end," O'Brien said, "you can't shut them up."