Cool Bookish Places

5 Ways to Have Fun In the Library Besides Reading

Lucas Maxwell

Contributor

Lucas Maxwell has been working with youth in libraries for over fifteen years. Originally from Nova Scotia, Canada, he's been a high school librarian in London, UK for over a decade. In 2017 he won the UK's School Librarian of the Year award and in 2022 he was named the UK Literacy Association's Reading For Pleasure Teacher Champion. He loves Dungeons & Dragons and is the author of Let's Roll: A Guide for Setting up Tabletop Roleplaying Games in Your School or Public Library. You can follow him on Twitter and on his blog.

We all love reading, especially in the library, right? There are, however, many ways to have fun in the library besides reading.

If you think you hate reading, you should check out a library. When they’ve got someone at the helm who cares, they will help you find a book that you love. They will find you a book or they will die trying, that’s what a good librarian does.

You can check out my previous post on what to do when someone tells you that they hate reading for more info on the topic.

As I said, we all love reading in the library. Libraries aren’t just about reading, though. They are places of creation, discovery and learning.

Those might sound like flowery words to make us feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but they happen to be true. This is especially true if you work with youth. You can easily apply it to all ages, though.

Here are five ways to have fun in the library besides reading.

Fun besides reading 1. Making Stuff

The “Maker” movement has been going on for a little while now, and it’s gathering steam quickly. Libraries have become hubs for students to learn by creating whether it’s a duct tape purse or a fully functioning robot.

 

Besides Reading2. Eating Doughnuts & Listening to Music

I’ll admit, I haven’t tried the Pop-Up Library yet. Still, I know it’s going to be awesome. Free doughnuts, live music and great books to pass on that they can read later, what’s not to love?

 

 

 

Besides Reading3. Use Social Media to Talk to Cool People

Every month we hop on Twitter and talk to an author about writing, their inspirations and pretty much anything. It’s fun, silly and more often than not seriously inspiring.

 

 

 

Besides Reading 4. Sing Your Heart Out
Open mics are the best, simple as that. They give students (and adults!) ownership over the library space. They also shatter any preconceptions people have about libraries and what they are all about.

 

 

Besides Reading 5. Book Basketball Death Match

I’ll be honest, I stole this idea. I don’t remember from who. I found it on the internet and then I twisted it into my own.

The rules are simple: 5 teams enter, only 1 leaves. Teams start out with 10 points. In turns, they answer a question based on a popular book. If they get it right, they get to take a shot at the Nerf basketball net. If they sink the shot, they get to knock points off of a team of their choosing. Once a team loses all of their points, they are done, caput.

It gets rowdy, it gets chaotic and it’s always lots and lots of fun.

So there we have it, five ways to have fun in the library besides reading. I’d love to hear from any other librarians or library users on how they have fun besides hitting the books.