Book Bingo: The Popular Reading Program For Adults Launches May 17 With The Seattle Public Library And Seattle Arts & Lectures
release date: May 17, 2021
What do coming-of-age tales, climate change fiction (cli-fi) and books set in an Olympics host city have in common? They are all categories for Summer Book Bingo 2021, the adult summer reading program co-presented by Seattle Arts & Lectures and The Seattle Public Library, which launches today.
Find your bingo card in Spanish or English at www.spl.org/BookBingo or www.lectures.org/book-bingo to get started.
Now in its seventh year, annual Book Bingo offers a fun way for Seattle readers to expand their summer reading selections. This year's black-and-white bingo card was designed by award-winning artist Tessa Hulls, who used an organic, hand-drawn style to design 25 squares bordered by Northwest flora and fauna.
Each square on the bingo card presents a reading challenge in a certain category: Read and record a book title that fits the challenge. New categories this year, in addition to “Cli-Fi,” include “Black Joy,” “Made You Laugh,” “Romance,” and “Activism or Social Justice.”
“This year, Seattle Arts & Lectures and The Seattle Public Library wanted to center joy as well as a commitment to equity and inclusion in our category selections,” said Misha Stone, Reader Services librarian at The Seattle Public Library. “We also asked our reading community, including the Seattle Escribe group, for their category ideas. We are grateful to our passionate, engaged reading community!”
Seattle Escribe, which contributed ideas for the Spanish-language bingo card, is the largest group of Spanish-speaking writers in Washington state.
STEP ONE: DOWNLOAD YOUR CARD
Download your card in English or Spanish from www.spl.org/BookBingo (www.spl.org/BookBingo-es in Spanish) or lectures.org/BookBingo. Start filling in the card with titles and authors of the books you read from now until Sept. 7, 2021.
The Library will have a limited supply of print bingo cards at Library locations with Curbside Services or In-Building Services, or you can print a card through the Library’s free Curbside printing service.
STEP TWO: FIND BOOKS, FILL IN THE SQUARES
Need book ideas for squares such as speculative fiction or an AAPI author? Librarians have prepared suggested reading lists for many bingo squares, which you can access on spl.org. For more reading recommendations, you can also call the Library at 206-386-4636, ask a librarian at a location with In-Building Services, or fill out a brief form at www.spl.org/YourNext5. You can also check the hashtag #BookBingoNW2021 on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to get ideas from fellow readers.
STEP THREE: ENTER TO WIN
When you’ve filled the front and back of your bingo card for either bingo or blackout (filling out all 25 squares), you can submit the card to enter drawings for prizes in the following ways:
- Drop off your card (or a copy) at any open branch of The Seattle Public Library.
- Email an image of the front and back of your card to bookbingo@spl.org.
- Post a photo of the front of your card to Twitter (@SeaArtsLectures, @SPLBuzz) or Instagram (@seattleartsandlectures, @SeattlePublicLibrary). Be sure to tag #BookBingoNW2021.
Entries must be received by 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021. This contest is for readers ages 18 and up, and you are only allowed to enter once. Blackout card entrants will be entered in the drawing for one of three grand prizes, including a subscription to the 2021/22 SAL series of your choice. Both blackout card and bingo entrants will be entered to win a gift card from one of Seattle’s independent bookstores.
Prizes may be collected at the open Library location of your choice.
ABOUT ARTIST TESSA HULLS
Tessa Hulls, the artist of the 2021 Summer Book Bingo board, is an artist, writer and adventurer who is fascinated by the concept of home. As the daughter of two first-generation immigrants who landed in a town of 350 people, Tessa spent her formative years reading her way through the public library and roaming alone through the hills with a backpack full of books.
This love of solitude, research, and forward motion informs much of her unusually multidisciplinary creative practice, and she weaves genres to create work exploring the intersections of history, culture, belonging, and strength. Tessa is currently working on a graphic memoir, Feeding Ghosts, which will be published by MCDxFSG in late 2022. Read more about her on Seattle Arts and Lectures’ blog SAL/ON, visit her website www.TessaHulls.com, or follow her on Instagram.
ABOUT SEATTLE ARTS & LECTURES
Founded in 1987, Seattle Arts & Lectures (SAL) champions the literary arts by engaging and inspiring readers and writers of all generations in the Puget Sound region. SAL's public programs include the Literary Arts Series, Journalism Series, Women You Need to Know (WYNK) Series, Poetry Series, Hinge, SAL Presents. Through SAL’s Writers in the Schools (WITS) and Seattle Youth Poet Laureate (YPL) programs, SAL connects working professional writers with students and teachers to elevate and amplify the voices of students throughout the Puget Sound region.
ABOUT THE SEATLE PUBLIC LIBRARY
The Seattle Public Library believes that the power of knowledge improves people's lives. We promote literacy and a love of reading as we bring people, information and ideas together to enrich lives and build community.
For more information about Summer Book Bingo, visit www.spl.org/BookBingo, call The Seattle Public Library at 206-386-4636 or Ask Us. For ADA accommodations, please contact: leap@spl.org. For more summer reading fun, check out The Seattle Public Library’s Summer of Learning programs for all ages at www.spl.org/SummerOfLearning
Limited in-building services are now available at the Lake City, Southwest and Beacon Hill branches. Visit the Library's Road to Reopening page for more information on Curbside Services, book returns and other services.