When Riverview Elementary School Principal Cheryl Jones sent out a survey to school parents at the end of the school year, she decided to ask whether they would like to see the school's library remain open over the summer.

The response to that question was overwhelming, she said.

"It was almost 100 percent 'Yes'," she said.

The reaction prompted Jones to put some of the school's Title I funding, which is money from a federal grant program that provides supplemental resources to economically disadvantaged schools, toward opening and staffing the library throughout much of the month of July, she said.

The school's librarian, Mary Beth Padden, agreed to staff the library, and the plan was made official.

Beginning this week, the school's library will be open to all students enrolled at the school, as long as they are accompanied by an adult, between noon and 3 p.m. July 6-8, 13-17, 20-24 and 27-31.

"Our concern is to make sure that children continue reading over the summer," Jones said.

Jones has memories of spending summer days with her own four children, who are all now grown, bringing home stacks of books from the public library in Dundalk, and being so excited to get home to read, she said.

"When it was too hot for them to go outside and play -- and this was before all the handheld video games -- they would find a nice cool spot inside and read," she said.

"Getting the kids to see reading as recreation is an excellent thing," she said. "And I hope that love will translate into improved reading skills and improved reading scores."

Opening the school's library will make that sort of recreational reading possible for many of the children at Riverview, Jones said.

She pointed out that some parents may not have the transportation to shuttle their children to the public libraries in Arbutus or Lansdowne or there may be a financial issue that prevents them from getting their children books.

Since all but a handful of the students at Riverview walk to the school, the school's library is a perfect location to provide reading materials, she said.

Still, Jones didn't stop with her own school's library.

She also contacted the Bookmobile, a library service that in conjunction with the Baltimore County Public Library system brings books to various senior centers, day care centers and school events throughout the county inside bus-sized library vehicles.

According to Christine Kamt, one of Bookmobile's mobile librarians, Jones inquired at just the right time.

The program had had success participating in a summer school program at Colgate Elementary School in southeastern Baltimore County last summer and was already looking to expand its reach into school communities this summer, Kamt said.

As a result, the Bookmobile will be at the school on Kessler Road from noon to 1 p.m. every Friday from July 10 through August 7, Kamt said.

Jones said she is curious, and excited, to see how the summer reading program will be received.

"Do I expect a huge turnout at first? Not really," she said.

"But as it progresses, I think through word of mouth, people are going to say, 'Hey, you can go to the school and get books!'"

She already knows her students are into reading, she said.

This year, the students participated in American Reading Co.'s Reading Research Lab program, which encourages reading through interactive sessions that have students write and illustrate their own books.

"Talk about a fabulous program," Jones said.

The boys in the school delved into books about dinosaurs and snakes and the girls into books about fairies and characters like Cinderella, and sometimes vice versa, she said.

"The kids loved it," she said. "They just loved it."

Their enjoyment was part of the reason Jones sought parents' input about a summer library program on the survey, she said.

"When I saw the kids just on fire about the Reading Research Lab, that's what made me put that question to the parents," she said.

"I think this is going to be a great thing for our kids," she said. "I really do."

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