This year marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and Indiana Humanities group has created the One State/One Story: Frankenstein initiative to encourage Hoosiers to celebrate the birthday of one of our favorite monsters by reading the book and attending many Frankenstein-related events. The Floyd County Library will be hosting several Frankenstein events this October and in this series of blog posts, you’ll get an inside look at some of the programs we’re putting together in our lab!
Scavenger hunts are a staple of school break programming in the Children’s Department. The structure is fairly straightforward – we hide print outs of characters around the room, the kids pick up the check lists at the desk and once they find them all return them to a librarian to pick up a prize. This seemingly simple program does encourage socialization among kids who can’t resist telling their fellow hunters where they should look. Prizes can range from pre-made buttons – like the Star Wars buttons we used for the scavenger hunt during winter break – to make-your-own crafts – such as the Infinity Gauntlets kids put together after finding all the Marvel superheroes in the spring – to pre-purchased items like the grow-your-own dinosaurs given out at our dinosaur scavenger hunt this summer.
For our Frankenstein and Friends Scavenger Hunt, which begins October 1 and runs for two weeks, you’ll be given everything you need to make your own Frankenstein’s monster. The scavenger hunt characters are scattered throughout the nonfiction section, so knowing your Dewey Decimal System might give you an edge! As the title suggests, the characters are monsters and characters based off of the Universal horror films of the 1930s-1950s. From Frankenstein we have both Dr. Frankenstein himself and the monster, as well as the Bride of Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, Dracula, the Phantom of the Opera, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Mummy, and – perhaps the most difficult to find – the Invisible Man!
Stop by October 1 or any day for the first two weeks of the month to take part in our Frankenstein and Friends Scavenger Hunt – the first of our Fran
kenstein programs in October. Also on October 1 we have children’s science entertainer Professor Steve and his “Science of Frankenstein” show. Professor Steve will demonstrate many of the concepts found in the book and movies, including experiments with light, anatomy, and electricity with his amazing Jacob’s Ladder, Wimshurst Static Generator, and Tesla Coil!
