The Amazing Escape: Teens Trapped in the Library!

The challenge is simple: you have 60 minutes to escape. However, completing the tasks, solving the clues, or being the first to escape is not simple at all...and that's why teens love escape rooms!

During the month of September, several of the CMRLS libraries are hosting escape rooms for teens. Using the library as part of the "escape," teens are given various challenges to complete within the 60-minute time frame. At the Forest Public Library, teens are divided into pairs and must complete ten stations to escape the library. The first pair to complete all ten stations and make it to the center circle of the library (the circulation desk) will receive two $25 gift cards and will be the winners of The Amazing Escape!

So, what is the appeal of escape rooms, and why are they rising in popularity? According to many online articles (and there are hundreds!), the stimulation of adrenaline along with the tick-tock of the clock creates a real-life gaming experience.  Having a game partner encourages a feeling of bonding and teamwork as the pair communicates and makes decisions during high-pressure challenges. 

Another reason why escape rooms are so popular is that they literally escape the ordinary. The idea of being trapped anywhere, even in the stacks of the library, is not part of anyone's normal routine. It is exciting to devise a plan of escape based on decoding a preset combination of clues. Add the adrenaline rush of out-competing others in the escape room environment, and it is game on! Doesn't everyone enjoy one hour of nonstop panic and mayhem during a normally boring day? Teens certainly think so.

Thinking is definitely part of the process, especially "fast thinking." According to Art Markman, a psychology professor at the University of Texas at Austin, all of the running around, trying to decode clues, is a good thing. "There's a lot of benefit to activity on your mood. One of the things we know from research over the last 10 or 12 years is the faster you're thinking, the better you feel. And when you're in a social group working on a problem together, that energy makes everyone in the group think faster and that actually elevates people's moods." 

The simulated survival situation created in escape rooms also provides an opportunity for people to be directly connected. For teens, entering into this new experience allows them to think, laugh, move, choose, and trust. Who has the best skills to complete a physical challenge? Who would be the best choice to crack a code? How can two people work together to find the quickest solution?  The idea of being the first pair to escape - the "can we win together" mentality - creates a connection that might not be found at school, in sports, in clubs, or in other teen group activities.

The Amazing Escape at the Forest Public Library combines the concept of the escape room with the popular TV series, The Amazing Race. Only one pair of teens will be the first to successfully complete all the challenges at the ten library stations and make The Amazing Escape! The free escape room event is set for Tuesday, September 21, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.

The challenge is simple: you have 60 minutes to escape!

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Swaying Elephants: It’s Complicated

Whether you are celebrating Valentine’s Day or Anti-Valentine’s Day, music will likely help set the mood. We will get back to Anti-Valentine’s later, but first, let us explore the relationship between music and love. It is such a powerful part of the human experience, choosing the perfect playlist to play when you are with your special someone can help make your Valentine’s Day magical.

First, a little history of this lovely day. The origins of Valentine’s Day are a little muddled, but we know that it started during Roman times approximately 500 A.D. Sadly, music, flowers, and chocolates were not involved. Poets Shakespeare and Chaucer romanticized this holiday into what we know it as today. Now, here comes the music part. Shakespeare, being the incredible artist that he was, recognized how music influenced people’s emotions well before scientific research proved it. In 1853, a scientific study was conducted on elephants to search for evidence connecting music to pleasure and love. Why elephants though? Elephants have intellectual and emotional similarities to humans (Bonus science lesson). Anyway, when the elephants heard the music, they began to experience pleasure and were observed touching and swaying with one another as if moving to the beat. Finally, in 1954, Oxford published a formal study in the journal Music and Letters. People, not animals, were tested and the study discovered how music directly stimulated the thalamus gland to produce excess endorphins that can either heighten or dampen one’s mood. Since 1953, many studies have been conducted that emphasize very similar findings, from elephants to endorphins and emotions.

Now for the not so loveliness of Anti-Valentine’s Day. Anti-Valentine’s Day or Singles Awareness Day (SAD) was started in 2001 by Dustin Barnes right here in Mississippi (Bonus history lesson). Dustin started it while in high school and carried the tradition on to Mississippi State University. It became official in 2005. And here comes the music part… in 2009, musician Joseph Vincent wrote a SAD song. It explains how many people actually feel about Valentine’s Day. Of course, many artists have written hundreds of anti-love songs so you can enjoy not being a victim of Cupid’s arrow.

So, whether you are dragging out your lutes and harps, 8 tracks, mixed tapes, or downloading songs from FreegalMusic to make the perfect playlist, music is the first thing you need for the perfect Valentine’s Day (or Anti-Valentine’s Day).

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Library Services Update

May 12, 2020

Dear Valued Library Patron

On behalf of our entire family of libraries, we want to thank you for your support during the past couple of months. While our doors were physically closed to you, our Central Mississippi Regional Library System Board of Trustees and Library Team was committed to providing digital services which included access to eBooks, Databases, eContent, free WiFi at all branches. We are grateful that you have continued to support us from a distance. Because of your support, we have been able to promote safety for our communities and our library team. We sincerely appreciate your vast loyalty and look forward to having you visit our libraries again soon.

From the beginning of the pandemic, we have continued to prioritize the health and well-being of our library team members and library patrons. As we enter phased reopening plans in our branches, we want to inform you of the practices and safety protocols we are following to ensure our libraries remain a safe place to work and provide library services. Below is a list of policies and operations that our libraries will be following, along with estimated dates of when each location plans to reopen.

We kindly ask that you refrain from visiting our libraries if you have any symptoms (coughing, shortness of breath, sore throat, vomiting or diarrhea), if you have had a fever of 100.4 in the past 48hrs, or if you have been in close contact with a confirmed case of COVID19. Additionally, we request your participation in our social distancing practices to safeguard our CMRLS team and patrons. Thank you for your assistance in this matter!

Libraries will follow all local guidelines to open at specified capacity rates.

1. In-person library programming, such as but not limited to story times and book clubs, will not be offered until further notice.
2. The Library Team Member is required to undergo a series of health screening questions before entering the building. Those showing any signs of symptoms or fever are prohibited from entering the library.
3. Study tables and computer stations are seated at least 6ft apart from one another.
4. Availability of computers will be limited. We will adhere to thirty-minute sessions to allow for others to use computers. Free Wifi can be accessed on the outside of the library building.
5. Curbside Document Delivery Services such as printing, copying and faxing are available for a fee. Wireless printing is available at select branches: Flowood, Pearl, Magee, Mendenhall, Forest.
6. Notary services are available for a nominal fee at the following branches: Flowood, Magee, Mendenhall
7. Library Team Members are required to wear protective masks and gloves with frequent glove changes and hand washing.
8. Tables, chairs, and other library surfaces are sanitized after every use.
9. High-touch areas such as doorknobs, screens, restrooms, etc. are sanitized frequently throughout each shift.
10. Antibacterial soap and hand sanitizer are readily available for Library Team Members and patrons in the libraries.
11. Library Team Members are provided proper training and guidance on safety protocols and steps to minimize the spread of COVID19.
12. Meeting room use and study room use are discontinued until further notice.

CMRLS has a plan for our libraries. The first part of the plan includes opening Book Drops and offering Curbside Services. During this phase, patrons will not be allowed to enter our libraries.

Book drops at selected locations will be open starting Monday, May 18, 2020. All returned items will be quarantined for fourteen (14) days in the designated and approved area in the library. The returned items will be in quarantine. Items will remain on the patron’s account until the quarantine period is completed. However, it should not hinder the patron from borrowing more items.

Beginning Tuesday, May 26, 2020, Curbside Services will be available from 10:00 A.M.-5:30 P.M. at the following locations: Floyd J. Robinson Memorial Public Library (Raleigh, MS), Forest Public Library (Forest, MS), G. Chastaine Flynt Memorial Public Library (Flowood, MS), Magee Public Library (Magee, MS), Mendenhall Public Library (Mendenhall, MS), Pearl Public Library (Pearl, MS), Richland Public Library (Richland, MS)

We will continue to closely monitor the recommendations of local health departments and authorities to ensure we are serving you in the safest way possible.

Warm regards,

Mara V. Polk

Executive Director

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