Blog Post
2019 Washtenaw Reads Finalists have been announced!
by howarde
The Washtenaw Reads Screening Committee has chosen two titles as finalists for the 2019 Washtenaw Read: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (fiction) and Reading with Patrick by Michelle Kuo (nonfiction.) One of these two books will be chosen as the 2019 Washtenaw Read by a panel of local judges from communities around Washtenaw County.
What is Washtenaw Reads?
Washtenaw Reads is a community initiative to promote reading and civic dialogue through the shared experience of reading and discussing a common book.
Blog Post
Badge Drop #7: Downtown
by andrewjmac
When you need points and summertime seems so pointless you can always go DOWNTOWN! When you need points, all the codes in the joints seem to help, I know. DOWNTOWN.
Just look for a new badge from Vault of Midnight in the city! Linger at the UMMA where artwork is so pretty. HOW CAN YOU LOSE? The points are so shiny there; you can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares and go:
DOWNTOWN! Things will be GREAT when you're DOWNTOWN! No finer place for sure: DOWNTOWN! EVERYTHING'S WAITING FOR YOU!
Don't hang around and let your problems surround you, there's Stamps Gallery DOWNTOWN! Maybe you know some little places to go to like the Art Center DOWNTOWN!
Just come and grab the codes from Zingerman's and also Hatcher! At the Robot Shop or Literati, you'll be a code-catcher! Happy again! And head to the Library. You can forget your malaise, make summer not so lazy and go:
DOWNTOWN! Take a quick walk around DOWNTOWN! Where all the codes are found! DOWNTOWN! This joke has run aground...DOWNTOWN! DOWNTOWN! DOWNTOWN!
[Editors note: It's possible that by Badge Drop #7, the staff of the summer game have gotten a little loopy and have started to run out of dumb jokes to make in their posts. It's also possible that this entire post can lead you to a nice bonus code if you are willing to go...well, you know. THANKS FOR PLAYING!]
Blog Post
Badge Drop #6: Pre-Shop Drop!
by Sara W
It's SHOP DAY! Not like, right this second, but SOON! It will be GRAND! It will be OPEN! It will be a GRAND OPENING!
Dying to know what to expect in the new and improved Summer Game Shop? Enjoy this handy-dandy post that just happens to be All About the All-New Summer Game Shop!
Please enjoy some fresh-baked BADGES while you wait!
And don't forget that the Goblin Game is AFOOT! Visit any (or all!) of the branches to take on the challenge and untangle those goblin riddles!
So hang in there, Summer Gamers, the Summer Game Shop is nigh! In the meantime, and always,
THANKS FOR PLAYING!
Blog Post
Badge Drop #4: Make Like a Lumberjack and GET LOGGING
by andrewjmac
Wood you believe we're already a quarter of the way through the game? It's NUTS! It seems like we just embarked on Summer Game 2018 but here we are at Badge Drop #4. And we know you must be a shade curious about what we have in store for you this time around. Well...
This week features the all-new LOG MASTER series! With the Log Master series, you get a badge and a bump for every 10 days you log something.
You HAVE been visiting your My Player page every day and logging your reading, watching, and listening (and getting your 50 daily bonus points), right? NO?? IT'S OKAY, no need to start pining for earlier days of summer and wishing you'd started logging sooner: you've still got time to log enough days to make it to SUPREME LOG MASTER status! We know you can do it! You just need to find your log-a-rhythm and then you can really get your grove on and start scoring!!
And, as a bonus this week, CATALOG RATINGS HAVE MADE THEIR TRIUMPHANT RETURN!! Time for all players to branch out from writing reviews and get to rating all of those things you loved (or things you only kinda liked). Stumped on what to rate? Try rooting through your checkout history!
Let's take a look at the drop!
Badge Drop #4
Maybe some of you have started to feel like Summer Game 2018 is just a day at the beech, sitting at your plum spots atop the leaderboard. Our advice to you is: don't be a sap! With a badge drop like this, other players can start running rings around you anytime and where would THAT leave you?
So Get LOGGING! Get RATING! Grab a bud and get ARBOR EXPLORING! And...
THANKS FIR PLAYING!
Blog Post
Badge Drop #3: POP QUIZ, HOT SHOTS
by Sara W
WHAT'S UP, SUMMER GAMERS?? Seriously, what is up? This is a test, and yes, spelling counts. Luckily, it's multiple choice. So, spelling won't really count.
Question: What's up?
A) The sun!
B) The temperature!
C) Badges!
D) Beautiful banners borne by branch buildings!
And the answer, intrepid gamers? Ah HA! You guessed it. You are too clever!
It is:
E) ALL OF THE ABOVE!!!!!!
Let us return for a moment to multiple choice option C: Badges! A brand new batch of brilliant badges are ready and waiting for you to DECIPHER their riddles, ABSORB their unusual facts, and CHORTLE at their wordplay. This week's badge drop brings you PANDAS! PUFFERS! PARKS!
This week's badge drop also gives you PURPOSE. No, not a reason to live (though Summer Game is an excellent reason to live) but a PURPOSE to go visit Zingerman's Bakehouse and Food Gatherers!
Badge Drop #3
Now then, let us return for another moment to the pop quiz. Multiple choice options A: The sun! and B: The temperature! are NO JOKE!
It's gonna be HOT, hot as the fury of a summer gamer who missed a program code by 10 minutes. Temperatures are rising like POINT TALLIES around here!
Enter multiple choice option D: Beautiful banners borne by branch buildings! No better time to make a grand tour of AADL buildings and COOL OFF COLLECTING CODES!!!!
Let's close things out with one last pop quiz.
Question:
True or false: THANKS FOR PLAYING!!!!!!!!!!!
(Answer: True!!!)
Blog Post
AADL Closed on Wednesday, July 4
by TimG
All AADL locations will be closed on Wednesday, July 4.
Regular Library hours will resume on Thursday, July 5.
Blog Post
Badge Drop #2: Too Many To Believe
by andrewjmac
It's the second badge drop but it might already be too much! As we are writing this post, you have already earned 17,374,510 points in this year's Summer Game! And we've only been in the second week of Summer Game 2018 for couple of hours! There've been over 1.1 MILLION points scored JUST TODAY! If that doesn't make you do a double-take, we don't know what will!
You might be tempted to think that a couple of players just decided to double their efforts or grew another pair of hands, but it isn't just that! 4,337 players have scored points so far this year. That's not double digits, that DOUBLE double digits! Again, let me say it a second time, THE SECOND WEEK OF SUMMER GAME 2018 HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN.
And what a second week it is! We've doubled-down on a whole bunch of your favorite badge series this week! AVENGERS and EMPIRES and BUGS and BUSES! Let's take a look:
Badge Drop #2
Blog Post
AAATA Free Ride Weekends—Just Show Your Library Card
by richretyi
The Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority (TheRide) and the Ann Arbor District Library (AADL) are partnering this summer to provide Free Ride Weekends during the AADL Summer Game!
Every Saturday and Sunday from June 16 to August 26, library cardholders can ride any of TheRide local fixed-route buses for free. All you need to do is show the driver your library card when boarding the bus!
Blog Post
Library Closed on Memorial Day
by TimG
All AADL locations will be closed on Memorial Day, Monday, May 28.
Regular Library hours will resume on Tuesday, May 29.
Blog Post
Suggest a title for the 2019 Washtenaw Reads!
by eapearce
**Suggestions for the 2019 Washtenaw Read are now closed. Thank you for your suggestions!**
The Washtenaw Reads program is a community initiative to promote reading and civic dialogue through the shared experience of reading and discussing a common book. Participating libraries include Ann Arbor, Chelsea, Dexter, Milan, Northfield Township, Saline, and Ypsilanti.
Each year, a committee of librarians, teachers, bookstore owners, and members of the public gathers to read a variety of suggested titles and select one to be that year's Washtenaw Read. This year's theme is again simply "A Very Good Read," and can be fiction or non-fiction. The Read will take place in January and February 2019 and typically culminates in a visit from the author of the selected book.