June 19 is the last day of school for students in the Lake Washington School District.

To avoid “the summer slide,” a setback in reading skills between then and the start of the new school year, children and teens can stay busy and engaged in local literacy programs with prizes and incentives.

• Half-Price Books, including the Redmond location at 7805 Leary Way, is encouraging kids 12 and under to participate in a “Feed Your Brain” summer reading program, now through July 31. Pick up a reading log each week at any Half-Price Books store and fill out the number of minutes the student has read each day. The log must be signed by a parent or guardian. Completed logs that average at least 15 minutes of reading per day for five days can be exchanged for a $3 shopping card at Half-Price Books each week during the program. For more information, call (425) 702-2499 or visit www.halfpricebooks.com.

• Also, The Redmond Regional Library, 15990 NE 85th St., is one of 44 locations in the King County Library System sponsoring the “Be Creative @ the Library!” program featuring artwork by children’s book illustrator David Catrow. The program officially began June 15. Students can register in-person at the library or find information online at www.kcls.org.

Elementary age children who read for 20 minutes will be able to mark a space on a reading log from the library. They earn prizes when they reach 500 minutes and 1,000 minutes, their final goal. For preschoolers, there are literary-based activities with prizes awarded at milestone points. Story times, music and comedy performances and movies are also part of the free fun.

• Summer programs for teens at the Redmond Regional Library include “Read 3, Get 1 Free Summer Edition.” The program began June 1 and ends Aug. 31. Participants read three books, write three short reviews and get to pick out a free book when they bring the brochure into any King County Library.

During the summer months, participating teens will also be entered into a monthly drawing for $25 gift cards from Target, Barnes and Noble and Zumiez clothing store. Each branch has its own gift cards to raffle. At the end of summer, all the brochures from all of the library branches will be collected and a laptop computer will be raffled.

In the “Read. Flip. Win. Video Book Review Contest,” teens can enter a book trailer — like a movie trailer but for a book — or a video book review, during June and July. They should upload the video to YouTube with the tag RFWkcls2009. Judges will select a winner and a runner-up. The winner will recieve an HD Flip video camera and the runner-up will win a regular Flip camera.

To get inspired by last year’s winners, visit http://www.kcls.org/teens/rfw/index08.cfm.

And in anticipation of the sixth “Harry Potter” movie, arriving in theaters on July 17, the Redmond Regional Library will screen previous Harry Potter movies at 6 p.m. Thursdays June 25, July 2, July 9 and July 16. Refreshments will be provided by Regal Bella Botega Cinemas.

“Making the Game,” presented by Redmond’s DigiPen Institute of Technology, happens at the Redmond Regional Library from 1-3 p.m. Wednesday, July 8, followed by “Game On!” open play from 3-5 p.m.

This mini-workshop features the art and science that go into making video games. Teens can learn about the game industry, what it takes to be a game developer and take part in a hands-on lab. Afterward, they can stay to play favorite Xbox 360, GameCube, PS2 and Wii games at the library.

Registration for the “Making the Game” program is required and begins June 22. Go to the Programs and Classes link at www.kcls.org or call (425) 885-1861.