ALLIANCE – The Alliance Public Library invites youth in fifth through eighth grades to a Book Scavenger Hunt on Friday, March 22 in the community rooms. Working on their own or with a team, participants will follow clues, decipher codes, and solve puzzles to find books in the library’s collection, using the electronic catalog. They will then put the books together to figure out the final solution to the game. The game lasts 45 minutes and can be started any time between 2:00 p.m. and 3:45 p.m.

“It’s a variation on an escape room or a breakout box,” Children and Youth Services Librarian Elaine Bleisch explained. “No one is locked in and their final goal is to figure out a solution to the mystery posed to them, but the idea is similar.” Everything needed to solve the puzzles will be available to participants, including laptops to access the library’s online catalog.

The game was inspired by The Book Scavenger, by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman, but you do not need to have read the book to participate, Bleisch said. “Reading the book could help, though,” she added. The book is available for checkout in the library, and on Overdrive as an e-book or an audiobook.

There is no cost to attend the program, but teams are asked to register in advance at the library circulation desk or by calling the library at (308)762-1387.