Vidalia &8212; Free knowledge and the enrichment of people&8217;s lives with no expectations of payback are rare if not non-existent in today&8217;s society.

That&8217;s why Concordia Parish Library Director Amanda Taylor feels an active community library is so important.

&8220;We spend lots of money on programming and try to keep everyone informed of what we got going on,&8221; she said. &8220;We are active and feel like a lot of good programs draw people to the library and hopefully makes them want to read and enrich their lives.&8221;

The award winning efforts of the library include a summer packed full of entertainment for all ages and are free and open to the public, Taylor said.

The summer reading program, which began June 5 running through July 14, offers entertainment to children daily in hopes of showing children reading is not all curriculum oriented.

&8220;We try to get children to understand that they can read for fun and read what they want to read,&8221; Taylor said. &8220;The parents and grandparents need to support that and encourage that because it&8217;s very important.&8221;

Pre-school story time for children ages three to five begins at 9:30 a.m. and elementary school readers entering first through fifth grades begin at 10:15 a.m. The teen program &8212; sixth-grade and up &8212; begins at 11:15.

Monday the readers meet at Concordia Bank in Monterey, Tuesday Concordia Bank in Vidalia and meet in the Ferriday Bank on Thursday. Friday&8217;s meetings are held at the Clayton Library.

The library has also put together an upcoming concert series that Taylor said, &8220;if you lived in the city, you would have to buy a ticket for it.&8221; Talks of an adult reading program are also under way, hoping to target all age groups in the charge to promote reading.