Two local community groups are so pleased with the "Farmingdale Reads" literacy program that they are hoping to institute a number of spin-off programs. At a March 13 Community Summit meeting that took place at the Farmingdale Public Library, Farmingdale Community Summit Council Chairman Tom Sabellico and school district Administrative Director Ellen Krammer both said success of the inaugural program was better than expected.

"Farmingdale Reads" has taken place throughout March and encourages adults and children to read books by having a townwide campaign promoting the event with placemats at restaurants, posters and prominent displays at the library and Borders bookstore. Adults and older students were encouraged to read To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and youngsters are reading Crow Boy, Tunes for Bears to Dance to and Because of Winn-Dixie.

"The titles are the leading sellers at Borders for the past month," said Krammer. "Reading is going on at every level. For first effort, it's been tremendously successful."

Krammer added that the program has even drawn the attention of morning show hosts on WABC 770-AM radio, who talked about "Farmingdale Reads" as part of a comedy routine.

Costs associated with "Farmingdale Reads" have come from money raised by the Community Summit. Sabellico said he encouraged new programs to capitalize on "Farmingdale Reads'" success. The Summit and Board of Education are considering a plan for "Farmingdale Writes," which would involve a collaborative effort by families to write a family history and have the results bound in a book. Also being considered are historical quilts representing various schools and "Farmingdale Jumps," an event designed to provide fun for the community. "Farmingdale Jumps" would be a basketball game likely matching the Harlem Wizards versus the school faculty in the first half of the game and the Wizards taking on the high school varsity basketball team in the second half, said Sabellico.

"We're looking to have that in the fall," he said. "We're working on it."

The Community Summit Council is also working on obtaining non-profit status. The organization has already filed a Certificate of Incorporation with the Internal Revenue Service, Sabellico said. He expected to receive an answer from the federal government within three months. The council will then file for non-profit status with the state. A Certificate of Incorporation is important because they would be exempt from paying taxes, which would make it easier to run town programs, said Sabellico.