Choosing a book can be hard. Very hard, in fact. The more books, the more confusion. It’s hard to pick one book when there are so many other books, all equally intriguing and enticing. 

If that sounds like your thought process, or if you find yourself spending hours in the library, reading the back-side summary of numerous books and then being conflicted over which book to read, then worry not, because the Arcadia High School librarians have you covered. You can now borrow a book from the library without actually knowing the name or synopsis of the book.

The concept is simple. It’s like a blind date, much like the name “Blind Date With a Book” suggests. You get to pick a random book based on just a few of its main themes. Once you pick your book, you will be provided with a slip/bookmark where you can review your “date” with the book. 

The teacher-librarian, Ms. Shannon Will, describes this as ”a seasonal activity in the library during the month of February.”

“We, along with the help of our wonderful student volunteers, pick out books, wrap them, and write vague hints about the book on the cover in bullet points,” said Ms. Will.

When you’re done reading the book, you can fill out the review bookmark, and return it to the library along with the book, in exchange for a small treat. The questions on the bookmark are extremely short, too. The deadline for submitting the review is Mar. 25.

The goal of this concept was basically to shed light on books that often get overlooked due to having not-so-exciting covers. 

“The main goal is to simply have fun and explore new books! We also know that sometimes books are overlooked because they are older or with less exciting covers, so this is an effective way to breathe new life into great titles that need a little attention,” said Ms. Will.

Not only does this activity introduce students to new books, but it’s also eco-friendly. Students are encouraged to neatly take off the paper cover from the book, and then return them to the library along with the bookmark and book so that the cover paper can be recycled/re-used.

When asked about the inspiration behind this concept, Ms. Will said, “I started doing this in my previous high school, but I’m not positive what the origin of it is. I’m sure one of my librarian friends posted it, or maybe I read about it in a library community group. It is a common activity in both school and public libraries.”

She further explained why this concept is so popular, “The element of surprise is always exciting, which is why it is a popular concept across all libraries. Next year, I will start with double the amount of books to keep up with demand.”

So far, “Blind Date With a Book” has been extremely popular; so much that Ms. Will said that they are “frantically” searching for more books to wrap and put out for people to go on a date with. 

As for future library activities, Ms. Will said, “Our creative writing club, The Writer’s Den, has something fun planned for our library books soon, but that will have to be a surprise for now.” 

She ended by saying “To keep up to date on new books, activities, and library announcements, follow @arcadiahighlibrary!”

If you’re interested in reading a random book, reviewing it, and getting a treat for doing that, “Blind Date With a Book” is definitely something you should check out and will be available until March 25, 2022.

Photo Courtesy of FLICKR