Kroski’s guide to escape rooms and other immersive experiences

CHICAGO — By one count, there are more than 7,200 escape room environments in 1,445 cities in 105 countries. So why not in libraries? Sharpening participants’ problem solving and collaboration skills by mashing up real-time adventure, immersive theater, gaming, and old-fashioned entertainment, they’re a natural for libraries. And, as Ellyssa Kroski demonstrates in “Escape Rooms and Other Immersive Experiences in the Library,” published by ALA Editions, they’re feasible for a range of audiences and library budgets. Whether you’re already an escape room aficionado who’s eager to replicate the experience at your own institution, or an intrigued novice looking for ways to enliven your programing, Kroski has got you covered. This book:

• discusses the differences between escape rooms, which are highly structured, and immersive experiences, which are more casual;
• shows how these unique experiences can be used to teach information literacy skills, add unique youth programming, bring adults into the library, and instruct patrons about library resources in the form of puzzles and challenges;
• profiles several successful library projects, from large scale programs like New York Public Libraries’ Find the Future: The Game to smaller ones like Search for Alexander Hamilton;
• offers dozens of programming ideas and examples that can be tailored to fit a variety of libraries and budgets; and
• provides information on game kits available for purchase, tips for partnering with local Escape Room businesses, and links to additional resources.

Kroski is the Director of Information Technology at the New York Law Institute as well as an award-winning editor and author of numerous books, including “Law Librarianship in the Digital Age,” for which she won the AALL's 2014 Joseph L. Andrews Legal Literature Award. Her ten-book technology series “The Tech Set “ won the ALA's Best Book in Library Literature Award in 2011. She is a librarian, an adjunct faculty member at Drexel and San Jose State University, and an international conference speaker. She was honored with the 2017 Library Hi Tech Award from the ALA/LITA for her long-term contributions in the area of Library and Information Science technology and its application.

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