2017 TLA Conference

Inspired by the “escape room” concept and “Breakout Edu” librarians at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville have designed an active learning library instruction experience. In the UT Libraries’ Breakout game, teams of students follow clues and solve puzzles throughout the libraries’ physical and virtual spaces to “breakout” of the library before the clock runs out. UTK librarians will discuss the learning outcomes, design process, implementation of the game, and, of course, the challenges faced using this new method for library instruction. This session will include examples of the materials used during the instruction as well as ideas of how to design an escape game for your library. We will also share our experience of how we scaled this game to fit one of UTK’s smaller branch libraries as well as diverse user groups. Academic, public, and school librarians are all welcome!