National Institute 2026

Escape rooms are in and traditional book clubs are out - so what happens if you turn your book club into an escape room? The 'Escape Room Book Club' has been a monthly success at Loudoun County Public Library in Virginia since January of 2021, originating as an online program before morphing into an in-person program in the public library as well as an elective course at a local school. Designed to be easily replicable and portable, Escape Room Book Club kits have been further developed as a popular middle school outreach tool.

This session will discuss what the Escape Room Book Club model looks like in action, including the different ways that this model has been used to engage harder-to-reach teens and tweens who generally struggle in a book club or classroom setting. A step-by-step breakdown on how to create and run an escape room based on a book will be provided, as will tips and tricks for running an Escape Room Book Club for classroom-sized groups as large as 35. Participants will receive digital access to example clues and prop designs from existing LCPL Escape Room Book Club kits.