Another project was to bring an emphasis on reading to the city's Safekey programs. Instructors for the programs now make time to read to kids and for kids to read by themselves, and a mobile library has been created to bring new books to the program's youth.

Parents and instructors involved with the Safekey program also are encouraged to keep track of the time kids spend reading, and at the end of the year the Safekey class with most reading minutes gets a party.

The APPLE program also has introduced the Counting Our Reading Efforts (CORE) program. When the program started, an employee of PBS & J engineering met with a Henderson area school principal involved with the APPLE program and wanted to be involved.

The idea behind the CORE program is for youth attending Southeast schools to keep track of their reading time. At the end of the year, there is a drawing and 13 kids receive a basket filled with books and other prizes, and three kids receive a personal computer for their family. One school also will receive a fully-equipped computer lab, all provided by PBS & J. Last year's winner was Glen Taylor Elementary School.

"When we tallied up the numbers at the end of the last school year, it came to 4,064,000 minutes that kids in Southeast schools had spent reading," Cranor said. "We've seen a real impact from this already. It's been so much fun."

Stine will speak at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Henderson Pavilion, 200 S. Green Valley Parkway. The event is free and open to the public, and tickets are available at the Henderson Pavilion box office, all Henderson District public libraries, all Borders bookstores and all Rhodes Homes sales offices.