Adult Summer Reading Program
June 1- July 31
Experience the joy of reading this summer! Read and complete activities to earn prizes. Don’t forget to invite your furry (or feathered) friends to join you!
June 1- July 31
Experience the joy of reading this summer! Read and complete activities to earn prizes. Don’t forget to invite your furry (or feathered) friends to join you!
Read Books:
Read anything you want! Get reading recommendations from our staff in person or online. Check out our past and present staff-curated book lists made just for Adult Summer Reading or explore our year-round collection of book lists for adults! You can also browse our monthly reading recommendations or find a variety of suggestions on our blog.
Complete Activities:
Complete fun activities like attending a virtual author talk or exploring a new language.
Earn prizes for completing reading and activity challenges! Prizes are limited and only available while supplies last. Pick up prizes at your local library until August 3.
Need Help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian.
On the Beanstack app:
Search for “Beanstack” in the App Store or Google Play Store and follow the instructions to create an account. If you already have an account, you need only enroll in “Adult Summer Reading 2024” with IndyPL.
Join The Indianapolis Public Library Beanstack Community! Readers can now add their friends to their community of readers. Friends can view each other’s reading logs and statistics, challenge histories, and recent reading progress. Plus, compete with each other on leaderboards!
On the web:
In your browser, visit our Beanstack site to create an account for yourself. You can log back in to track your progress. If you already have an account, you need only enroll in "Adult Summer Reading 2024" with IndyPL.
In person/On paper:
Visit or call any IndyPL location to register with a staff member. Pick up a paper tracker to log your progress.
Earn a book themed sticker to add to your laptop, water bottle, home desk/reading nook, or wherever you could use some reading inspiration!
Earn a collapsible water bottle to bring on your next summer adventure. Perfect for a bike ride, hike, or sitting in the shade with a good book.
Prizes are limited and only available while supplies last.
Help us Reach our Community Reading Goal for 2024. If the Indianapolis community surpasses 18 million minutes of reading, including our Children’s Summer Reading Program, all readers who log reading time will be entered into grand prize drawings at the end of the summer!
Complete at least four of the following activities. Keep track of completed activities on Beanstack.
1. Pick up free seeds. Pick up free seeds from the IndyPL Seed Library at all branch locations to start your vegetable, herb, or flower garden! The IndyPL Seed Library is available at all our locations during regular branch hours from late March through September.
2. Explore LinkedIn Learning classes. Use your library card for free unlimited access to more than 16,000 course in 7 different languages. Explore the courses in LinkedIn Learning
3. Learn on demand The Library also offers free on-demand video streaming classes and learning modules.. Add a new skill, polish a skill that needs an update, or just try something for fun! Learn at your own pace. All you need is a Library card! Explore all the options for on demand learning
4. Check out an audiobook. We have thousands of downloadable audiobooks that can be checked out instantly with a library card. Check out an audiobook or try our newest audiobook alternative Pre-loaded audiobooks, self-playing battery-powered devices small enough to fit in the palm of your hand! Learn more about audiobooks.
5. Attend a virtual author talk. Join our virtual author talks to enjoy conversation with the authors behind your favorite books from the comfort of home. See our virtual author talk schedule and register
6. Say hello to your library team! Meet the librarians and staff at any of our locations. We are always happy to meet you and happy to help!
7. Expand your artistic skills on Craftsy. You can use your IndyPL Library card to take Craftsy online tutorials. Watch step-by-step instructions on a variety of creative crafts, such as baking, cake decorating, quilting, knitting, and more. Learn about our Craftsy’s on-demand craft tutorials.
8. Attend any program at any Library location. We offer a wide variety of workshops, classes, and programs from computer classes to concerts, to book discussions, art, and more! Browse our extensive calendar of events.
9. Learn a new language Mango, a language learning app, offers 70 world languages and dialects.Explore a new language using Mango
Completing the Summer Reading Program is easier than you think!
• Listen to an audiobook to make doing chores more exciting.
• Download an e-book to your phone to take a break from scrolling social media.
• Count your time reading a sacred text during your daily spiritual or religious practice.
• Cope with your commute by escaping into an audiobook—listen to it while you drive!
• Create a cozy reading spot at home with your favorite décor, mood lighting, and accessories.
• Read in public! Visit a park, a local coffee shop, or a museum to read in the company of your community.
• Spend 10 minutes of your lunch break at work reading a nonfiction book.
• Always have a book with you! Pull out your phone to read an e-book while you’re in the waiting room or taking the IndyGo bus.
• Read some book reviews on sites like Goodreads and Kirkus Reviews! You can count the time spent reading the reviews towards your summer reading goals while also building your list of books to check out.
• Invite a friend out for a blind reading date! Visit one of our city’s indie bookstores, buy each other a book, and spend some time reading together. If you don’t want to spend money visit the free IndyPL Public Collection at Central Library, your local Little Free Library, or find great book bargains at Indy Library Store.
• Check out a cookbook and try new recipes in your weeknight dinners. The time you spend reading the recipes counts towards your summer reading goals!
• Read aloud to someone you love! If you’re a parent, reading bedtime stories to your child will count as minutes read for summer reading—and for BOTH of you! Organize a popcorn reading session with your family or friends to take turns reading aloud together.
Printmaking with Jager Palad
See the schedule and register
Learn how to carve your own image into a linoleum block, ink it up, & print! Go home with multiple prints & a linoleum block that you carved yourself!
Virtual Author Talk: For the Love of Mars - A Human History of the Red Planet with Smithsonian Curator Matt Shindell
Monday, June 3 at 2 p.m.
You’re invited to come learn alongside Matt Shindell, National Air and Space Museum curator, as he introduces viewers to historical figures across eras and around the world who have made sense of the mysterious red planet Mars. Register for Matt Shindell's virtual author talk.
Virtual Author Talk: Psychological Thrillers and the Queen of Twists - A Conversation with Freida McFadden
Thursday, June 13 at 8 p.m.
Get your popcorn and take a seat as we pick the brain of the queen of twists herself, Freida McFadden! McFadden will join us to chat about writing psychological thrillers, her mega-bestselling hit The Housemaid series, in particular her forthcoming 3rd installment, The Housemaid Is Watching.
Register for Freida McFadden's virtual author talk.
Book Discussions
You are invited to join in one of our many in-person or online book discussions that take place several times each month. In our book discussion groups we read and talk about both fiction and non-fiction books. We express our opinions (both likes and dislikes!) with other avid readers in the city. See our book discussion schedule.
One State / One Story: All That She Carried by Tiya Miles - A Community Read About the Power of Family History
Explore a poignant story of resilience and of love passed down through generations of women against steep odds. "All That She Carried" honors the creativity and fierce resourcefulness of people who preserved family ties even when official systems refused to do so. See the One State / One Story schedule. No registration is required.
Explore Summer Reading with Libby and Tumblebooks
Monday, June 17 at 6 p.m. Register
Curious about accessing e-books, audiobooks, magazines, and movies from a tablet, smartphone, or computer while on vacation this summer? Learn how to use Libby, Tumblebooks, Hoopla, Kanopy, and more!
Computer Classes
We offer a variety of computer, technology, and mobile skill classes. You can also learn how to download and stream with your Library card. See our featured computer classes schedule and browse our calendar of events.
Virtual Author Talk: Unpacking a History of Systemic Racism in American Education - A Conversation with Tiffany Jewell
Thursday, June 20 at 2 p.m.
Join us as #1 New York Times bestselling author Tiffany Jewell highlights inequities Black and Brown students face from preschool through college and discusses her new book "Everything I Learned About Racism I Learned in School." Register for Tiffany Jewell's virtual author talk.
Virtual Author Talk: Learning the Power of Poetry - A Conversation with Bestselling Author Elizabeth Acevedo
Tuesday, July 23 at 2 p.m.
You’re invited to learn about the power of poetry with Elizabeth Acevedo! In this exciting author conversation and Q&A, Acevedo will provide a short reading from her National Book Award winning and New York Times bestselling novel-in-verse, The Poet X serving as the backdrop to this amazing chat! Register for Elizabeth Acevedo's virtual author talk.
Gaming Programs
If you enjoy board, card, and dice games, you are in luck! The Library has books, programs, and gaming recommendations for tabletop gamers of all ages – explore them all! Pro tip: learn how to access the New York Times Crossword puzzle free with your library card! See all our gaming resources and upcoming gaming events.
Health & Wellness
Take charge of your health with help from the Library! Find online and in-person exercise, mindfulness or cooking classes, and more. We can also help you find reliable, trusted resources to manage good health and get access to medical research tools. See our blog posts that cover both research assistance and reading recommendations or browse our health and wellness staff created book lists.
Gardening Classes
Pick up free seeds at all branch locations to start your vegetable, herb, or flower garden free! The IndyPL Seed Library is available at all our locations during regular branch hours from late March through September. One packet of each type of seed per household. In addition to free seeds, check out resources and attend workshops about growing and using plants from your seeds. We provide materials and programs to make gardening in Indianapolis a doable goal for beginners. See our gardening resources and gardening classes schedule.
Animal Themed Crafting for Adults
Animals have been our muses since the dawn of time. If you're looking to get creative, why not let our furry, feathery, and scaly neighbors spark some inspiration? This list is comprised of all kinds of activities for any and all skill levels. Pick up a book on your current hobby or try something new!
Cats
A librarian doing a list on cats - nothing could be more cliché I know. I have tried to include lots of cat and feline related books.
Eggs and Chickens
My friends got a few chickens for their urban backyard and it is fun to get fresh eggs when I need them. Learn more about backyard farming, chickens and egg recipes.
Mysteries are the Cat's Meow
Mysteries that feature cats as sleuths and sidekicks.
Mysteries for Dog Lovers
Dogs as working companions or just beloved pets are featured in these mystery books and series.
National Pet Month
May is National Pet Month. Check out a book to help you learn more about your favorite furry (or not) family member.
Pets With Jobs
My favorite pets with jobs are the TSA dogs at the airport. Especially the German Shorthaired Pointers! Read about some inspiring and hard working pets.
Train Your Pet!
Is your dog, cat, bird, small mammal or fish in need of wrangling? Find guidance for training them to be the best they can be! (Okay, maybe not the fish.)
World Folklore and Fables
This list presents a small sampling of traditional lore. It also includes some modern reimaginings of ancient tales. Readers will find some stories familiar and others new. I hope that they will entertain, inform, challenge, enrich, and broaden your view of the world.
