Summer game in a Michigan public library becomes city's focal point
The Ann Arbor District Library (AADL) has taken a unique approach to promoting its services, with a focus on engaging adults and fostering community involvement. This summer, the library's Summer Game has become a local sensation, attracting over 16,000 active players.
The AADL Summer Game is a large-scale, interactive summer reading and discovery challenge that encourages participants of all ages, including adults, to explore the library’s catalog, attend events, and engage with the community. The game integrates technology and gamification, rewarding exploration and learning, thus fostering ongoing engagement and community participation.
In addition to the Summer Game, the AADL offers a variety of innovative programs designed to engage adults. These include Board Game Afternoons and Game Nights, Interactive and Themed Programming, Creative Workshops and Classes, and Community Code Sharing and Visibility.
Board Game Afternoons and Game Nights offer regular events such as Board Game Afternoons, Drag Bingo, Mahjong open play, trivia sessions, and tournaments for games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Mario Kart. These events promote social interaction, friendly competition, and community bonding within the library space.
Interactive and Themed Programming includes events like the “Ballads of Shorevania: An Interactive D&D Musical Performance” and “Splatoon 3: Hyper-Local Splatfest”, which blend popular culture, gaming, and live performances, attracting adult audiences and fostering a sense of community through immersive experiences.
Adult-oriented creative activities such as printmaking with found objects, DIY stamp-making, and even science-inspired sessions like “Strawberry DNA Extraction” encourage adult learning, creativity, and hands-on involvement, contributing to a vibrant community atmosphere.
The Summer Game encourages participants to create and share “Lawn and Library Codes,” making library engagement visible in the local community and inviting neighbors and the broader public to get involved, thus extending community ties beyond the library walls.
The ethos of The Summer Game is meeting patrons where they are, reflecting a broader trend in libraries. Librarians in Dover, Ohio, have also embraced this trend, creating a Pokémon-style card-collecting program called "Reading Dragons and Friends", available for other libraries to use.
The popularity of the Ann Arbor District Library's Summer Game is not isolated. The Anne Arundel County Public Library in Maryland had a participation rate of 10% of the population for its "Summer @ Your Library" program, which includes gameplay and event attendance.
The success of these innovative library programs underscores the importance of libraries as community hubs, providing not just books, but tools, art, music, help with homework, finding jobs, and a third space for lectures and crafting. As Neiburger, the AADL's director, aptly put it, "libraries are magical" and their ability to reach new audiences and provide services discovered by those audiences is also magical.
- The Ann Arbor District Library's Summer Game encourages participants to share "Lawn and Library Codes," making library engagement visible in the local community, inviting neighbors and the broader public to participate, thus extending community ties beyond the library walls.
- Librarians in other communities, such as Dover, Ohio, have also embraced this trend, creating programs like "Reading Dragons and Friends," a Pokémon-style card-collecting program, to foster community involvement and engagement in home-and-garden projects and lifestyle activities.
