How to Play Library Survivor

If you were stranded on a deserted island with no hope of an escape, which book would you like to be stuck with? It better be a good one because you're going to be on that island for the rest of your life. This is the dilemma you will place before the kids who participate in your Library Survivor game. Library Survivor is a way to review the Dewey Decimal system with students and talk about some new books at the same time. School librarians strive to make library lessons as entertaining as possible. Learning becomes fun when you turn the mastering of basic library skills into games. Before trying the Dewey Decimal part of the game, teach students the various Dewey categories and their location within your library.

Things You'll Need

• Fiction books
• Whiteboard
• CD player
• CD with the song "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor or "Survivor" by Destiny's Child
• Construction paper

Instructions

1. Discuss at least four fiction books. Make the talks exciting, using props if necessary. Tell your group what each book is about so they will want to check the books out for recreational reading. Make each book talk like a mini commercial. Don't give away the ending of the books; just whet your students' appetite to read the books for themselves.

2. Write the title of each book on the whiteboard. Ask each participant to vote for her favorite book. They have to decide which book they would like to be stuck on a deserted island with.

3. Choose the winning book. This will be the book with the most votes. To celebrate the winning book, play the disco song "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor or "Survivor" by Destiny's Child.

4. Divide the kids into tribes. If possible, have no more than four. Let the kids name their tribes. The tribes will compete against each other during the Book Hunt.

5. Cut out fish shapes from construction paper. Write a Dewey Decimal number on each fish. Give each tribe member a fish. Tell each tribe they have 60 seconds to find the books that correspond with each fish. The tribe that finds all its books in 60 seconds gets a prize.

6. Create a display of novels about the act of "survival." One particular adventure book about survival is called "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen. It's a young adult book that is a perfect read for teens who love books about adventure. Include books that are about people who might "survive" emotional situations or obstacles in their lives.

Tips & Warnings

• Add more tasks for your tribe to accomplish. For example, tribes can compete to see which team can be the fastest at organizing fiction books in alphabetical order. You can also have tribes compete against each other as they answer basic library skills questions. Library skill questions can include questions about when to use an almanac, a dictionary and an encyclopedia.