Beanstack Q&A

How do I sign up?

For the website, go to https://sherman.beanstack.com and click Register an Individual or Family.  For the app, tap Get Started, tap Yup! (that your library does already use Beanstack), and search for Sherman Public Library.* You should see a sign in screen with the City of Sherman logo at the top and text at the bottom prompting you to sign up if you don't already have an account.

*Beanstack GO (the option to not select your library) does let you use Beanstack in a general sense, but you won't be able to access our challenges that way!

How do I log minutes/books/etc?

On the website, click Log Reading and Activities at the very top of the page. You can then choose whether you want to log minutes, books, etc. You can log reading for both the current day and previous days.* You don't have to include information about the book you're reading, but we think it does make things more fun!

On the app, tap the big plus sign at the bottom of the screen. Your options for different types of logging will pop up. If your book has an ISBN barcode, you can scan it. Otherwise you can search by ISBN number, title, or author; enter everything manually; or choose not to enter any book information at all. Choose the appropriate date* and log your reading. On the app you can also tap on a book you've already entered in, and log reading for that specific book. 

*Beanstack does limit the amount of time you can log in a single day (eating and sleeping are important too!), so be sure to select the correct day if you're behind on logging.

Tell me about this app.

Beanstack Tracker is a mobile application that allows you to access challenges, log your reading, and use extra features such as a barcode scanner to help input your books and a reading timer that records your time for logging purposes. It's available both on the App Store and Google Play. 

How do I use the app timer?

When you go to log your reading  in the app, choose Start Reading Session and the timer will start! You can pause the timer as needed and just tap Done when you are finished. 

How do I see what I've already logged on Beanstack?

There's a great way to do this on the Beanstack website. Simply click on Reading Log at the top of the page, and then on that page, click the Print button. You'll see a full list of every time you logged something as that reader!

If you prefer to use the app, or are only interested in logging for one book, you need only click on that particular book for those details. (You will need to tap on Reading Sessions next to Overview in the app to switch to those details.)

How can I see recommended books?

Our lists of recommended books can be found at https://sherman.beanstack.com/lists/ . If you're signed into the Beanstack website, you can find a link at the top of the screen called Recommendations.