The Genre Dating Game

I wish that I could tell you where on earth this idea came from, but I had it suddenly and it came together very quickly. I’m truly hoping that people interact with it (both young adults and adults since we point out that you can choose any books in the library, not just the displayed books).

Behold: The Genre Dating Game!!! ::clap of thunder::

Three sets of different genre books: Mystery, Romance, and Sci-Fi/Fantasy make up this simple and fun interactive library display. — It’s The Genre Dating Game! Hopefully people will try new genres and fall in love.

Before I go much further, I have to thank Michael at the Main Library for compiling all of the books – it saved me a huge amount of time.

He also made very thoughtful and diverse selections that I truly appreciate.

The game and display are pretty straightforward:

The patron picks a number (1-3) out of the yellow bowl. Each number corresponds to a “book bachelor”: Mystery, Romance, or Sci-fi/Fantasy.
The player must then choose a book from that genre to check out and “take on a date.”

That’s it!

Closeup on one of the book bachelor signs. Each sign hangs above a set of their respective genre.

You’ll get all three genres in the PDF – this is just an example.

Here are some of the printables for you to use (click on the first two images below to get a ledger-sized jpeg for your own use – the other two are letter-sized pdfs).

A set of numbers with colors that match the sign. It's be easy enough to make your own if you don't want to print this off.

A simple letter-sized sign that explains how to play for you to use if you'd like.

Feel free to make your own version or want to adjust what I’ve done. I used this font from Dafont.

The “bachelor descriptions” being suspended from the ceiling was a last-minute decision. We haven’t really done anything quite like that and I thought it’d be eye-catching as well as give easier access to the displayed books. Plus they’re really eye-catching since they’re in a drafty part of the library, and therefore nicely twirl.

Elevating the Genre Game sign was also last minute and I will be changing it. Initially the sign was up with the “how to play,” but I felt it blocked the books too much. I tried stacking some mass market books from our ongoing book sale and then wrapping them in a plastic yellow tablecloth. Um, yeah, I don’t like the look at all (the left side is okay, it’s the bunchy right-hand side that kills me). I believe that I will either re-wrap them in a groovy scrapbooking paper that I didn’t have handy at the time, or I will just take the sign out of its holder and post it to the wall. I have a feeling it’ll go on the wall.

Update: I did adjust it and it looks SOOO much better, don’t ya think?

Updated-Update: I’m missing this image. I’ll keep looking for it – sorry about that!

Speaking of the wall: those flowers were a last-second addition as well. Their true purpose is to hide some ugly screws sticking out of the wall. Originally the screws held up some plaques and pictures commemorating the library’s history. I can’t remember why we took them down, but they proved to be impossible to get back up where they belong. There are only three screws, but I added a few extra flowers to help fill the space a bit more.

And there you have it! I’ll be sure to update here on whether or not this proved to be popular and/or how I’d change it if we do it again.