Blind Date with a Book or Movie is going on now til February 28 (Corinne Smith/KHNS)
If you’re in Haines and looking for an activity to spark your interest during these bleak, COVID-winter weeks, the Haines Library will set you up on a blind date… with a due date. KHNS’ Corinne Smith has more.
There’s a new shelf in the lobby of the Haines Library with a series of books and movies wrapped in brown paper and a string of red and pink hearts.
Library assistant director Rebecca Heaton explains, with a wry smile.
“They’ve got a little clue on them just saying what they might be about. And you check them out in the same spirit in which you would check out or attend to blind date, you kind of committed to a blind date, you can’t just peek in the window and say, Oh, no and leave, right. So you can’t get to unwrap it and just say, nah. Once you’ve committed you unwrap it, and you read the book, or you watch the movie.”
Like a blind date, this one is all about excitement, intrigue, and opening up to the unknown.
“It’s a way to encourage people to maybe step out of their genre, or their comfort zone” Heaton said. “And they might discover an author that they didn’t know they loved. Or genre, they suddenly thought, Oh, my goodness, I’m a fantasy fan.”
Heaton walks around the shelf and reads a few of the clues.
“It says ‘a merry war of words.’ That one sounds fun. I bet that one’s playful,” she said. “‘Class struggle and romance.’ So those are movies. Then some books might say, ‘friendship faces adversity in war.’ Oh, my.”
Heaton says library staff came up with the selection, meant for young adults and older, based on variety and appeal.
“Things that are interesting that people might have missed. They may be old enough that they’ve kind of slid under the radar for a while, maybe it’s time to bring them back up again. But we definitely were looking for high interest stuff.”
After the “date,” people are encouraged to write a review and enter to win a raffle.
“Inside there’s a little bookmark, a complementary bookmark, and then there’s a slip where they rate their date. And what it says, ‘love it for sight’ or you know, ‘it grew on me,’ that kind of stuff. And you put your name on it, contact information, drop it in a jar at the front desk, and we have a drawing for fabulous prizes”
Heaton whispers, “It’s chocolate.”
And though it may seem in the spirit of Valentine’s day, blind dates will be available through the entire month to February 28.
