6 Library Holiday Party Games

That time has come when the holiday party is upon us.  Do you want another weak year of everyone standing around, talking about work and staring at each other?  Is the DJ just Brenda from reference putting together her greatest Celine Deon hits collection together?  Forget all that and break out some party games to spice up the atmosphere.

Just remember not to eat the ornaments.

Here are six games guaranteed to have people still talking after the new year:

1. Dirty Santa
The oldies still work.  This easy to play game takes just a wee bit of preparation and participation from the staff, but is sure to lead to loads of fun.  The gist is simple:  everybody brings a wrapped gift of low value and places them in a pile.  Everyone takes a number, one to however many people there are.  The person with number one chooses a gift and unwraps it.  Then number two can choose to steal number one's gift or choose a new present.  If the gift is stolen, the person it was stolen from picks a new, unwrapped gift.  The game continues, the next person in line stealing any previous opened present or choosing an unopened present.  When everyone has chosen or stolen, the first person in line gets to choose either to steal from anyone or keep his or her choice.  Beware:  Game may lead to hurt feelings and possibly an old lady hitting you with a cane when you "steal" her waffle iron.

2.  Bobbing for Bestsellers
This game is an old classic with a library twist.   New books not in circulation and old discarded books are piled in a bin.  The trick is to reach in blind-folded with one hand and pull out one of the new books.

 Think less apples and water, more books.

Everyone gets three turns, with prizes awarded to fit the pulls:  3 new books is a good prize, 2 new books is an okay prize, 1 is a not so good prize, and 0 is no prize.  Beware:  Know that you are giving participants potentially heavy and lethal weapons when things do not go their way. 

3.  Pin the Bookmark on the Administrator
PBA is pretty simple, especially if you have an admin staff that can take some beatings.  Set up is pretty easy, just get a large picture of an administrator, put a tack in a book mark, designate where on the administrator the mark should go.  Playing is also easy:  Blindfold the participant, give him/her the bookmark, spin them around a few times, aim them and let them go.  Whoever gets closest wins.  Bonus if you can somehow get a real admin to stand in without resorting to wimpy velcro or stick tape.  Beware:  Game may lead to admin retaliation in the New Year in the form of loss or gain of hours, public service time, etc.

Think long and hard about that "overtime" you asked for.

4.  Spin the Book Cart
For those more with a more "frisky" library setting, here is spin the book cart.  All you need is a decent amount of alcohol, a book cart, and some librarians who like smoochin.  Everyone stands in a circle, the book cart is spun, and whomever the cart points to has to kiss the person who spun it.  Bring chapstick.  Beware:  Game may lead to unwanted feelings displayed, especially by Betty in circulation, and the spread of cold sores as well as mono.

Spreading love and VD for 30 years...

5.  7 Minutes in the Stacks
After all that alcohol, Betty from circulation is starting to look pretty hot, eh?  Time to break out 7 Minutes in the Stacks.  Using the same setup from Spin the Book Cart, players instead of kissing have to disappear into the dark stacks for five minutes.  Whatever happens in the stacks, stays in the stacks.  After 7 minutes are up, the rest of the staff that cares comes and finds what you are doing.  Beware:  Betty is a tiger.  Rar!

Somewhere down there is a recipe for love... lets find it together.

6.  Library Fight Club
The time for f*&king around is over.  The alcohol is gone, Betty is no more fun, and God help you, Brenda from reference is starting to look good.  The time has come to get out some aggression.  Here are the rules for Library Fight Club:
a. Only talk in Library Fight Club.
b. Only TALK in Library Fight Club.
c.  If someone cries, or bows their head, the fight is over.
d.  Two staff members to a fight.
e.  Dear God keep your shirt and shoes on.
f.  Fights will go on as long as they have to.
g.  If this is your first night at Library Fight Club, we can talk about it.

Let's get it on!

Images
party pic here
apple pic here
old lady pic here
donkey pic here
book cart here
dude pic here

5 Ways to Prevent Cabin Fever

Old Man Slushie has come again, dumping the white stuff and blowing the invisible stuff across the land.  As the cold sets in deep, people begin to nest in the library.  With the added crowd and inability to escape, both you and the staff can descend into the madness that is cabin fever. 

Welcome to the library!

Here are a couple of ways keep your head in this wintery hell:

 #1  Entertain the Children

The youngest of the library can also breathe the most live into the library.  Because school is out, either because of the holidays or because of snow, children become captive audiences for whatever play, skit or puppet show you can think of.

They are very receptive.

#B Create Something Special

 The limits of the human mind cannot be contained within the walls of the library.  As your work load dwindles, express yourself on paper, casting your mind into warmer climates of warmy wonder.  Just let yourself go, feel what is in your heart.

My masterpiece.  All in a row.  Good times.

#Yellow:  Clean Up a Little

As the number of people increase, so does the amount of trash.  Take the time to tidy up all the little messes that have cropped up around the library.  Those hard to scrub coffee, tea and blood stains will give you hours of work.

OOOO!  A project!

#Door:  Do Some Shelving to Motivate the Staff!

After showing the staff your writing and cleaning prowess, show them you mean business!  Shelve with a fever, chasing their lazy butts down one by miserable one.  Yeah, you will find them all, the bartender and the pink giraffe said so.  They are all bad, bad whiny staffy staffertons.  

IT'S SHELVING TIME!

 # Redrum:  Take a Nap

They all laughed at you and did not think you would do it, but you showed them.  It is all yours now, the library is safe from their kind, their dirty kind of non-shelving shelfy-doodles.  They will not worry anyone anymore.  In fact, those patrons are dirty, too.  Dirty in your clean library.  Just a walk outside to find them all and maybe a nap at break time.

Yeah, a nap with my eyes closed in a blanket of snowy snow.

# End of the End:  Have a Party!

The library is cool and clean and you have kept your sanity.  Whew!  That nap did you wonders!  Plus, now everyone is ready for a dapper party!  The bartender is there, and so are all the old members of the Friends!  Wow, they look so young!  

Even the dead ones...

photos from The Shining, copyright 1980, Warner Bros.

Awesome Sauce AKA Old Spice Library Commercial

This made me laugh so hard I sat up and coughed up the embedding code.





Although I have to ask:
1)  Does he need a polo shirt to go to the library?  That just seemed extraneous.
2)  Should he be talking that loud around others trying to study?  I think that guy threw him a lap top to shut him up.
3)  I feel bad for that book cart, it was designed to carry books and may be warped by using it like that.  (you should always have 3 things on a list.  Otherwise it just looks silly.)

Shout out to The Wee Librarian, where I first saw this.