It’s an annual event held during the month of the year when ghosts and goblins, haunted houses and scary stories dominate daily conversations, decor.

But there is nothing frightening about the increasingly popular program presented every year by the Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library during the haunting month of October. It’s called One Book, One San Joaquin.

A countywide reading program, One Book, One San Joaquin aims to “increase literacy and promote a love for reading” by encouraging everyone in the community to reach this goal by reading a book.

One Book, One San Joaquin this year will take place from Oct. 4 to 25 with Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” book as the promotional reading material being featured. You can pick up a copy of the book at your local library or by requesting it online at www.SSJCPL.org.

The flyers and posters announcing the reading program has an artistic flavor to it. The featured art is by award-winning Manteca artist Jean Ramey.

Kicking off the more than a dozen One Book, One San Joaquin community events to be held throughout the county will be combination of movie, refreshments and remarks to be held at the Cesar Chavez Central Library, the county’s main library in Stockton, on Saturday, Oct. 4, starting at 7 p.m.

Subsequent events will be held in various parts of the county. In Ripon, one of the four scheduled Frankenstein Book Discussions will be held Thursday, Oct. 30, at the Ripon Branch Library on Main Street. In Manteca, the branch library will host “Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich: Children’s Programs” on Tuesday, Oct. 15, starting at 4 p.m.

The movie, “Abbott andCostello Meet Frankenstein” will be shown as part of the reading program. It is being shown Friday, Oct. 24, starting at 7 p.m. at the Bob Hope Fox Theater in downtown Stockton and is being shown in collaboration with the Friends of the Fox Theater.

The culminating event will be “Music & Monsters at the Museum” set for Saturday, Oct. 25, starting at 7 p.m., at the Haggin Museum at Victory Park in Stockton. This extravaganza will include a costume contest, a museum scavenger hunt, and entertainment featuring the Seaport Woodwind Quintet.

Several branch libraries throughout San Joaquin will be hosting several of the above programs as well.

All of the above are open to the public free of charge.

For a list of the other program locations near you, log on to www.SSJCPL.org.