Albany Public Library discussion

Hello everyone!

Cassandra and myself would like to thank all of you for making this 2018 Adult SRP so successful. We had almost 50 participants this year, with a good amount of you finishing the program; and most everyone collecting at least one prize, if not two!

We do have some participants who need to collect prizes from their local branches, and I will put the list at the bottom of this post. This week concludes our 2018 program, but prizes will still be at the branches until the end of the month.

Please let us know if you have suggestions on what we can improve on for next year: how did you feel about the prizes and prize levels? Did you like the weekly themes with book suggestions? Did you use the BINGO sheet, and if so, do you have any thoughts on how we can improve for next year? We perceive success in our programs by feedback from our patrons, so please let us know how we can make next year's program more successful for you.

Until next year, see you at the library!

Prize Pick Up:
@Jessica: Level 1 and 2
@Emily S: Level 1
@Diana: Level 2, 3, and 4
@Alicia aabdul: Level 1, 2, 3 and 4
@Rich P: Level 3 and 4; currently at 8 books read if you can get one more book read before the end of the month for a Level 3 prize!
@Molly: Level 1, 2, 3 and 4
@Emily slushies: Level 2, 3 and 4
@SusanDE: Level 1, 2, 3 and 4
@Mayra: Level 1
@Kariesaurusrex: Level 1
@Meredith S: Level 4
@Katie K: Level 4
@Alissa P: Level 1 and 2
@Anna AMbiologist: Level 1, 2, 3; currently at 11 books read if you can do one more for the Level 4 prize before the end of the month!
@Tetchy: Level 1
@ED: Level 1, 2, 3
@Alicia R: Level 1; currently at 5 books read if you can finish one more for a Level 2 prize before the end of the month!
@Elizabeth: Level 1 and 2
@Josanna14: Level 1, 2, 3; currently at 10 books if you can finish two more before the end of the month for Level 4 prize!
@graceful_j: Level 3

Reminder of prize levels:
Level 1 (3 Books Read) - Magnetic APL Bookmark
Level 2 (6 Books Read) - Stewart's Ice Cream Coupon (free scoop!)
Level 3 (9 Books Read) - APL Mini Notebook
Level 4 (12 Books Read) - APL Cooler Bag

I didn't see my name on the list
Joel Margolis

I didn't see my name on the list
Joel Margolis

Alexandra and Cassandra, Thanks again for organizing the program. It was a great motivator for me to read!

I liked the Bingo sheet, and used it as a guide to picking out books! I also enjoyed the weekly themes, although I'd prefer to know about them at least a week in advance so I can get books lined up. Was there an overall schedule published at the start of the program?
As prizes, the ice cream and bookmark were my favorite! I'd still participate no matter what the prizes are, though.

Joel wrote: "I didn't see my name on the list
Joel Margolis"

Hi Joel, I do have you signed up for the program, but there were no posts in the 8 weeks of discussions of what books you have finished this summer. Do you have a list of what books you read during the SRP timeline (June 23 - August 18) which I could add to our spreadsheet and tell you which prizes you can collect at your local APL branch?

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

I thought the list I compiled was automatically included in the group

Thank you! I am in the process of my 5th right now and should be finished in the next day or so. I chose to listen to a YA book, Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. I actually never read her diary entirely and wanted to get an adult look on Anne while in the annex. And once I finish I will make another post.

I enjoyed this summer reading group and look forward to next year!

Thank you for putting this together. As always, I thoroughly enjoyed it and absolutely liked the themes and suggestions because those books were either on my TBR list or encouraged me to read something different.

Maybe next year one suggestion could be a "book club" style option that is an umbrella text for all participants where we can have a separate discussion for all of us to read one book (while reading others). Or, a topic/theme could be a "patron takeover" where some of the patrons can put together recommendations (with double points if you read a book recommended by the patron!) But I like the format and LOVED the prizes! I picked mine up at the end of last week.

To wrap-up this reading group, I have just finished A Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. While I know the unfortunate outcome, my heart pounded at the last words of Anne's diary and the entries written afterwards. As we all know the story or maybe have seen the movies, I never actually read the book and wanted an adult's perspective on this heartwarming diary.

Joel, your books have been added. You can pick up your level 1-4 prizes the next time you visit your local APL branch.

Thank you to Alicia R. and Alicia (aabdul) for your feedback. I'm glad you enjoyed participating this summer and I hope we can add some new things for you all next year!