Once a year, in the summer, the Ann Arbor community comes together to play a game. Run by the Ann Arbor District Library (AADL), this game brings thousands of people together in order to read books, find codes, and earn lots of achievements.
“I enjoy going to the different libraries and getting the codes, like a little search around town,” said Carrie Bank, a top five player of the game in 2025. “And people can put individual yard signs up. Each sign is 100 points, so that’s a really easy way to get points. So then you just see them around town, and your point values go up very quickly.”
The summer game is also fun for people of all ages, as they get to have fun looking for codes around town.
“[My oldest child would] get all excited to find a code at the library and write it down,” said Bank. “It was great practice for his writing.”
The library also gives out badges that grant players points for completing puzzles on their site or visiting a certain number of library branches along with giving players free prizes to incentivize Ann Arborites to play. These include mugs, stickers, shirts, bags, merchandise, and for the younger players, once they read enough books, a free book off the shelf.
“I love libraries, and I get to visit all these different libraries,” said Ashley Han (‘26), a Summer Game player since 2018. “At the end of the summer, I get free things. And who doesn’t love free things?” When asked about her favorite prize Han talked at length about an AADL tote bag.
The library also runs many events at its five locations throughout the summer that allow players to earn points and have fun with others in the community. “AADL always has a bunch of events, even outside of the summer,” said Han. “They have cooking events, professors coming to talk, game nights, trivia nights, and all sorts of cool things.”
In August at the Game Over Gala the library held an auction where you could bid for things with the points you had earned. The auction got heated and Bank won a vintage library hat for about three million points.
“That’s the third time we’ve had a points auction at the Game Over Gala and it was a big hit!” said Eli Neiburger, AADL Director. “It’s definitely something we’ll be doing annually.”
It also helps garner interest in the library and encourages people to get out and explore our wonderful city. “We hear from players all the time that they found out about new library services, new items in our catalog, and new things to do in town that they didn’t know about before.” Neiburger said, “The Summer Game really encourages people to explore the library and the town. There’s nothing else like it!”
