In this episode, Ross speaks with Sarah Brubaker, Programming Manager at
FCPL, about this year's Summer Reading Challenge: Unearth a Story. The Summer
Reading Challenge will run from May 22 to August 5 and will feature a variety
of awesome programs and grand prizes. Make sure to check out all the
activities going on across the branches
on our website
or in the printed
Summer 2026 Magazine available at all branches.
Opening
[bouncy piano and brass music]
Ross Gericke: Hello and welcome to Unreadable, the official Forsyth County Public Library Podcast for news, upcoming programs, and recommendations.
I’m your host, Ross Gericke, the branch manager at Hampton Park.
In this episode I speak with podcast regular Sarah Brubaker, Programming Manager at FCPL, about our Summer Reading Challenge. The Summer Reading Challenge will run from May 22nd to August 5th and will feature a variety of cool prizes to earn as you complete your reading. Make sure to check out all the activities going on across the branches either on our website or in the printed Summer Reading Guide available at all branches. Now on with the show.
Interview
Ross Gericke: Hello, Sarah and welcome back to the podcast.Sarah Brubaker: Hi, Ross. Thanks for having me.
Ross Gericke: So, I won't lie to you. I have been excited about this particular Summer Reading theme for a few years, whenever we found out about it. You've got your archaeology, of course, and you've got dinosaurs. What is cooler than dinosaurs? What a great Summer Reading theme.
Sarah Brubaker: Absolutely. We are ready to Unearth a Story this summer.
Ross Gericke: Um, so tell us about how Summer Reading is going to work this year.
Sarah Brubaker: So, for those of our patrons who have joined us before, we will be using a very similar format to what we've done in past years. We'll be using Beanstack, which is our awesome reading tracker app. Very easy to use. All you have to do is make an account and then log your reading. So, our readers will be able to even set a timer on the app or they can manually add their minutes after the fact. But basically, as long as you put in how much time you spend reading, you will be getting points and earning prizes.
Ross Gericke: Are there any changes for – We have a lot of patrons who do the Summer Reading Challenge every single year and they know all about it. Are there any changes they need to look out for this year?
Sarah Brubaker: No. Uh, for those who have done it before, you're going to be using the same app, the same process, the same point value. So, it's going to be familiar, but what is new is the prizes. Once again, we are bringing back button mania. So, for all of our elementary students and middle school students who love their buttons, we will be bringing back a whole slew of new dinosaur themed buttons.
Those who are putting in their points can get buttons at 100, 250, and 500 points. They will officially complete the challenge at 500 points, but if they keep reading, they can also get the Dino-mite Reader button if they get over 1,000 points by the end of the summer. So, there's definitely incentive to read all summer long.
And there's also an incentive to visit all of our locations. Every branch is going to have their unique summer button and that's all five of our branches as well as our Bookmobile. Once again, they will bring back Where's Loaney? their challenge during the month of June to find Loaney our Bookmobile at different stops throughout Cumming and Forsyth County, and you will be able to get a special button at each of those Where's Loaney stops.
So, there are so many buttons out there to earn that you just can't get enough. Um, and then for our preschool, high school, and adult participants, they will be able to get stickers. And our high school students will also get a special prize at 500 points. Uh they're going to get a stress toy. So, we've got lots of different prizes uh throughout the challenge that you can earn.
Ross Gericke: So Sarah, I've got to know, tell me about those grand prizes.
Sarah Brubaker: Absolutely. So, our grand prize system is going to work how it has before where you earn tickets every 500 points you read. So, you can get your first ticket when you finish the challenge at 500 points. But if you keep reading throughout the summer, every 500 points after that until 5,000 points – yes, there is a maximum – you can keep earning tickets for those grand prizes. So that means you can get up to 10 tickets throughout the summer.
And what you'll do is in the Beanstack app, you'll be able to select which grand prizes you want to enter drawings for. So when you look at your options, you'll say, "Oh, I definitely want that one." You can put as many tickets in it as you want. Or if you like more than one, you can kind of spread out your chances and put tickets in multiple baskets. But basically, every ticket is another chance of getting drawn and being the winner of that grand prize.
We have so many grand prizes across the board. Um, we've got options for our preschoolers that include a dino plush egg set, a Leapfrog Touch, and Picasso tiles. Our elementary schoolers can get everything from dino activities to a karaoke machine. They've got six different options. Middle school has four options this year. They've got everything from a beginner crochet kit to a 3D pen. High schoolers have five options. They've got everything from a Polaroid camera to a resin art starter kit. And our adults also have five options, which includes a crowd favorite, the Atlanta Botanical Garden tickets, but also include some things that are a little uh more popular amongst those murder mystery lovers. So, we've got a cold case set that's got some murder mysteries to solve and a puzzle basket.
So, we've got kind of a broad range across all age groups. You've got lots of options to choose from when you earn those tickets to put in the drawings.
Ross Gericke: Man, that is so much stuff. That sounds awesome.
Sarah Brubaker: And you can see the full list of grand prizes on our website. It's going to be https://www.ForsythPL.org/Summer-Reading-Challenge. That'll be going live in May. So, keep an eye out for that to see all of the prizes and learn more details about the Summer Reading Challenge.
Ross Gericke: And we get questions about this throughout the entire year but we are going to also do our big print out of all the various programs we have going on in the library as well, right?
Sarah Brubaker: Yes, we are working on that as we speak. We – I am coming to you live from March. That's when we are working on the magazine. So, we are looking through all of the amazing programs that our staff have put together. They're already on our website, but we want to make sure that you can see them in print as well. We have so many people who love being able to flip through that printed magazine and see everything going on by age group, location, and just getting a quick glance at everything they're interested in coming to this summer. We have so many programs it's hard to fit it all in one magazine, but we are getting it together and making sure that everyone can see it all at once.
Ross Gericke: Man, Sarah, I cannot wait. I won't lie. Summer is my favorite time of year at the library. It's our busiest time, but it is the most fun. Thank you for coming on the podcast.
Sarah Brubaker: Thanks for having me.
Closing
[bouncy piano and brass music]Ross Gericke: Thank you for listening to the Summer 2026 episode of Unreadable.
Please subscribe to our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Contact the podcast directly with any comments by email at Unreadable@ForsythPL.org
Keep up with all the excitement happening each month on our interactive calendar available on our website, www.ForsythPL.org. You can also stay connected with the library through Facebook and Instagram @FOCOlibrary.
Our theme music is “Open Those Bright Eyes” composed by Kevin MacLeod. This and other compositions by Kevin MacLeod are available at Incompetech.com
I’m Ross Gericke, and this podcast has been Unreadable.
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