LIBRARY LOCKDOWN - HOW TO BUILD AN ESCAPE ROOM IN YOUR LIBRARY NCOMPASS Live 10.5.2016
L I B R A R Y L O C K D O W N - H O W T O B U I L D A N
E S C A P E R O O M I N Y O U R L I B R A R Y
NCOMPASS Live
10.5.2016
CURIOSITY CREATES
ALA/Disney Grant for $7500
79 public libraries across the US
Program admins were from ALSC + an external evaluator
Hadani, H. & Jaeger, G. (2015). Inspiring a Generation to
Create: Critical Components of Creativity in Children
WHY????
Repurposing of library space: exploring ways to use spaces in the library in new
and unusual ways
Psychological ownership: fostering a sense of ownership of the library and library
spaces among kids
Structured creativity: giving kids the opportunity to be creative, but within a
framework that ensures overarching goals are being met
Community engagement: making connections with members of the community
who can offer skills or knowledge (or celebrity) to the project
Repeatability/Modularity: being conscious of scope and approaching the project in
a way that allows for easy scaling up or down dependent on resources, time, and budget
PROJECT TIMELINE
1 month of puzzle solving
2 months of puzzle making / storytelling / prop building
2 weeks of testing
BUT THEN ZOMBIES
ATTACKED!!! ! ! ! !
WE SURVIVED
HOW TO SURVIVE
You have to like puzzles or get staff/volunteers involved that do
Market it to schools, so you know people will show up
Make pre-sign up mandatory
90 minutes is a lot of time! 45 minutes + snacks and debriefing is
probably enough
Robots and tech-stuff is really cool, but takes time to learn and
prepare
HOW TO SURVIVE PT2
Have at staff/kid ratio of 1/4 or higher
Structure it! Unbound creativity is great in theory … a little less so
in practice
Ask for help
Always have a plan for the entire session and have simple back-up
tasks ready in case something falls through
THE SHOESTRING SOLUTION
Breakoutedu.com is a great resource!
Normal craft supplies
Repurpose what you already have in storage and ask for donations
Modularity with software that is already written (you are welcome)
• Discrete puzzles and customizable difficulty levels
Use what you already have in your collection for puzzles
OH NO! WE ARE TRAPPED
NUMBER LOCK
How many people came to Swansea, dressed up as smurfs, in 2009?
DIRECTIONAL LOCK
WORD LOCK
I come without being fetched at night, hide
away as soon as daylight strikes. Although I
may look small, I am much mightier than
what you can imagine. What am I?
THANK YOU
Curiosity Creates video for inspiration
Library Journal Article more about our project
NLA October 20th @ 2:30pm – come say hi!
Upcoming article in ‘In The Library With The Lead
Pipe’