Before they were movie stars, superheroes like Spiderman, Wonder Woman and Iron Man all existed in comic books, read by millions of children and adults the world over.

It was a celebration of reading and heroes, both from comics and within the local community, that brought two dozen children to the Wareham Library Tuesday morning for the kickoff of the Library's Summer Reading Program.

"Reading is my superpower!" said Marcia Hickey, children's librarian at the Wareham Free Library, to a crowd of kids and community members outside the Library.

The Summer Reading Program consists of events all summer long that are aimed to get kids excited about reading and also connect them with local heroes like firefighters, police officer, teachers, doctors and nurses, some of whom were on hand for Tuesdays kick off event.

"It's about celebrating our local heroes," said Bethany Gay, chair of the Wareham Library Board of Trustees.

Children at the event on Tuesday had the chance to see a police car and a fire truck up close and get their autographs from Gatemen players.

They were also able to plant in community garden and zoom around the Library's "story walk," two outdoor aspects of the Library kids can enjoy all summer.

Library officials held a ribbon cutting for another outdoor feature at the Library, the arbor, constructed by Wareham residents David and Will Paling. At the ceremony, Gay also thanked A.D. Makepeace and the United Way, who supplied the grants to fund the summer program.

For more information on the schedule of events throughout the summer, visit our previous story or stop by the Library. The Wareham Free Library is open onTuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and the Spinney branch in Onset is open on Mondays and Wednesdays.