Adult Summer Reading Program Wrap-Up

Another successful year of Adult Summer Reading has ended.  What a great program!  Below are our stats for the year, with some of our thrilled winners.  Click on any to enlarge.

Crystal, June Winner, with her prizes.

In June we had 231 entries; although this number is down a bit from June 2012 participation, we're happy to say the number of unique patrons who participated was higher: 72 this year, up from 66 in 2012.  More people participating means we're doing a better job getting the word out!  All summer long, many patrons won free new and like-new books, choosing from titles as varied as cook books to romance novels and from literary fiction to nonfiction in history and science.  June's prize pack was won by Crystal who had about a 1 in 58 chance.  Exciting!

July 2013 entries were up from last year: 339 among 58 unique users for the month.  Our randomly-selected winner for July was Corlene.  All together, there were 570 entries throughout the summer.  Fierce competition!

Perhaps these competitive spirits were spurred by the Grand Prizes: because of a generous donation from our local Wal*Mart, we were able to award two grand prize winners this year: Leah and Ruth were randomly chosen from among all 570 entries.  Each had a choice: a $150 gift card (to either Barnes and Noble or Book People of Moscow), or a black and white eReader device (Nook Simple Touch, Kobo Touch, or Kobo Mini) complete with cover, and the remainder value given as a gift card.  Difficult choices, to be sure.  One chose the git card, and another chose an eReader; of course, both were thrilled with these excellent prizes!

Barb, our first Weekly Winner for 2013.

For each entry throughout the summer, patrons were invited to enter the drawing for every book, magazine, downloadable book, or audiobook they 1) checked out from Neill, and 2) finished reading. 

Also associated with the Adult Summer Reading Program, we offered several programs and presentations.  Our kick-off program on June 1st, Literary Speed Dating, got many positive comments from the public.

Author Bjornstad addresses the crowd.

Then in July, we had two well-attended author-visits.  On July 10th, author Bruce Bjornstad spoke to a crowd of 49 about how glaciers, flooding, wind, and erosion shaped the geological formations in this region.  Thank you to a patron who suggested we seek a speaker from the IAFI-- it's the best-attended program we've had in a long while!  Our final program, also quite the success, was July 17th with a presentation by author Dr. Sarah Woodbury.  Thirty-nine people listened to the presentation on Woodbury's growth as a writer and her writing and research processes, along with information about the history of Wales.  The Bookie was on hand at both the July events, as each event was followed by a book signing.

If you have thoughts about this year's Adult Summer Reading Program-- parts of the program you liked that you'd like to see next year, or aspects you wish we'd have in addition-- please let us know so we can serve you better.  We look forward to even more participation in 2014!

Author Woodbury speaks to a full room.

Finally, we'd like to take time to thank our sponsors.  Many local business donated great prizes, and these were supplemented (and made more "themey") by items purchased with funds given by the Friends of Neill Public Library.  Have I mentioned how we couldn't do this without them?  Local business who donated goods or services are: Atom Heart Music, Banyans on the Ridge, Basilio's Italian Cafe, Birch and Barley, The Bookie, Brused Books, Cafe Moro, Crimson and Gray, the Daily Grind, Fireside Grill, Little Ceasars, Neill's Flowers and Gifts, Papa Murphy's, Palouse Ridge Golf Club, South Fork Public House, Snap Fitness, and Sweet Mutiny.  Maybe you'll consider taking your business to these local retailers, in support of their support!

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