Murder in the Library!

What a fun night! I just took part in "Murder in the Library," a solve-the-mystery/educational scavenger hunt event in the Stoxen Library at DSU. It was a cooperative venture between the library staff, who wanted a fun way to kick off Library Week, and some Resident Assistants (RA's) wanting to offer social/educational programming for their peers in the residence halls on campus. Since my office is located in the lower level of the library, I was invited by the library staff to participate, too.

DSU students signed up in advance for a spot on one of ten teams of six participants each. They showed up tonight before 7:30 P.M. to enjoy lemonade and cookies and hear the rules from the library staff. Meanwhile, inside the library we had drawn all the blinds, taped colored paper over the lights that are wired to stay on perpetually, set up strategically placed lamps for mood lighting, readied the stations for all the clues, doused the "murder victim" in stage blood and got him situated in the corner of the library classroom, and placed RA's where participants would need to report throughout the scavenger hunt to get their next clues.

Participants were told to arrive with flashlights, so once the library doors opened and the madness began, there were people running around manically in the dark, beams from their flashlights tracing paths on the floors and walls. Some RA's hid in darkened corners and leaped out to scream at passersby to heighten the suspense and add to the mood. Some teams yelled at each other and tore around wildly; some teams huddled closely together and whispered to keep other teams from hearing them. But what were participants doing besides running around in the dark with their flashlights? Here's what:

There were a series of challenges that each team had to complete and prove to someone at the next station that they had completed in order to get the next clue. Each clue was written on a puzzle piece, and upon accumulating all the clues, teams were told to flip over the clues and put together the puzzle to see the identity of the "murderer" and then be the first team to the reference desk to report the "murderer's" name to the judges there. The bloodied "victim" held one of the clues, so one of the teams' tasks was to locate the "victim" and retrieve their clue from him. Other challenges asked them to check out a DVD from on reserve and find a viewing room to watch it for their next clue; use a call number to find a particular book and page through it for the next clue; and report to the Academic Success Center (ASC), where I work, to answer three questions about the services that we offer in exchange for their next clue.

Our questions were answerable with information from brochures on display throughout the ASC as well as via our Web site, which I had pulled up on all the computers in the Learning Commons computer lab in our space. Some people went straight for the computers and, upon finding the answers, made sure to close down the site to make the task more difficult for those who followed. Others went for the brochures, leaving a swatch of destruction in their wake (papers strewn everywhere). Others knew the answers from experience, either having utilized our services or serving as student employees in the ASC themselves.

Only one team did not complete all the tasks by the time the library staff brought the event to a close. Everyone received certificates and prizes for participating: key chains, bookmarks, and coupons for a free beverage from the library's coffee bar. The top three teams got additional prizes, including candy, DSU mugs, and USB drives (for computer data storage). Everyone got a good library education (or refresher, in some cases), too, learning where the maps are stored, how to utilize the library's viewing rooms, what the reference desk has to offer, how to utilize the ASC's services, etc.

And they (and we) had a blast. In fact, nobody was in a rush to leave at the end of the night. They did eventually pair up or group together and head off for more socializing. One of the RA's spearheading the event is already planning a followup scavenger hunt (based not only on the participants' reactions tonight but also on the fact that many more wanted to sign up but could not once the sign-up sheets were full). I'd do it again! (Of course, faithful readers already know that I'm into that kinda thing.)