LULING — United Way of St. Charles hosted its first Children’s Book Swap June 20 at the United Way office in Luling.

In the weeks leading up to the book swap, United Way collected more than 2,000 books from local businesses and residents.

Families were then invited to freshen up their personal book collections at the free event sponsored by United Way of St. Charles and Monsanto.

Over 30 local volunteers worked the event, including representatives from St. Charles Parish 4-H Clubs and Monsanto.

The Children’s Book Swap also featured fun, hands-on activities including bookmark making, story time, a photo station and free snowballs.

The first 100 children received a free, signed copy of Beaux the Blue Crawfish written by local author Wendy Cartozzo, who also served as the special guest story time reader for the event. Representatives from the St. Charles Parish Public Library were also on hand to sign up children for library cards, register families for the summer reading program and teach individuals how to access the various electronic resources available for free with their St. Charles Parish Library membership.

Due to the overwhelming success of the event, organizers said United Way plans to continue the Children’s Book Swap as an annual summer event.