The Wareham Free Library wants to make sure kids in town are reading and being read to.

The library will soon kick off a months-long event promoting children's literacy entitled "Wareham Reads." The event will begin on March 7 and will focus on kids reading books and parents reading with their kids.

The past year the library has seen dramatic reductions in services and hours because of budget cuts, and Wareham's children are among those who have fallen victim to the reduced services.

"It's difficult for families and kids to get to the library with cut hours," said Marcia Hickey, who was previously the children's librarian, but due to staff cuts she must now work from the main circulation desk. "Parents are working on weekdays and Saturdays are busy, especially for kids with sports . . . It's difficult for kids to get here."

The Library will be using a national program called "1,000 Books Before Kindergarten" to help promote parents reading with their children. The goal is self-explanatory: to expose a child 1,000 books by parents, teachers, siblings, etc., by the time he or she reaches kindergarten.

Hickey said children and parents will be able to keep track of the books they read and kids will receive little rewards like certificates and stickers at milestones along the way.

Library staff and officials have decided to forgo the annual "Love Your Library" rally, which is usually aimed at garnering support for public funding for the library. Instead, this year's "Wareham Reads" will act as a mini-summer reading program, said Hickey.

"This is a way to show we're here and we want to help the kids," she said.

Hickey hopes the program will help foster a love of reading for kids in the community. She said reading to kids is an enjoyable, bonding experience, and that studies show reading to young children will benefit them later in life.

Wareham Reads starts on Saturday, March 7 at 11:30 a.m. with a performance by "Ed the Wizard," who performs magic with a focus on children's literacy and the need for parents to read to their kids.

The program has a finale on April 16 with a performance by local storyteller Jackson Gillman. But as Hickey said, the reading can last long after the program ends.