The Summer Game Brings Out Residents To Use Ann Arbor Libraries

The Summer Game started as a reading challenge in Ann Arbor, Michigan, but it didn't work very well. Kids who didn't like reading would slog through the requisite number of books to get points, then be done for the summer. Kids who read long books resented getting the same number of points as those who read short ones.
So around 2011, the library decided to pivot. Via NPR:

"Instead of a reading game, we started a library-using game," librarian Eli Neiburger explained. "It includes reading, going to events, using our website, discovering all the things that the library has to offer. And it has been successful beyond our wildest dreams."

The Summer Game's design, he said, was inspired by corporate loyalty programs such as Coke Rewards. Users earn points by solving puzzles, learning about local history and exploring neighborhoods. Points can be redeemed in the library shop for T-shirts, umbrellas and other merchandise, such as a very popular stuffed plushie animal that's updated every year. (The 2025 animal is a small, bespectacled flamingo.)

read more