Outreach Update: Where's Loanie—A Bookmobile Scavenger Hunt

Submitted by Lorraine Lane

Where's Loanie, A Bookmobile Scavenger Hunt is rolling through Forsyth county until July 19. Many of you may be wondering how the bookmobile scavenger hunt has been going. We began our journey on Friday, June 7 at the Stars and Strikes bowling center offering bookmobile services and science related activities. We had fourteen people visit the bookmobile and participate in the activities. The first family on the scene was from one of our regular bookmobile stops. They are avid library users!

The second visit was at Lanierland Forsyth County Park in the northeast end of the county.

  

We had thirty-eight visitors to the bookmobile and they enjoyed a bilingual storytime and puppet show put together by Christine and Kandy. Families sat on the lawn together with umbrellas for shade in an effort to beat the summer heat. 

Cumming City Center proved to be the perfect location for the bookmobile scavenger hunt. Participants were encouraged to wear their favorite costume and they did not disappoint. Christine, dressed as the elderly gentleman from the Where's Loanie social media posts fooled everyone. Each visit we offer a variety of activities for visitors to enjoy. At Cumming City Center patrons enjoyed using cookie cutters with homemade Playdoh, building with LEGO®, and presenting their very own puppet show. The thirty-two participants at the Cumming City Center hung out at the bookmobile for a good portion of the visit. 

Jeanine and I were dancing in the streets at the fourth installment of Where's Loanie at Launch Trampoline Park. Patrons joined in the line dancing fun learning the Cupid Shuffle, Cha Cha Slide and the Electric Slide to name a few. A family that has visited every Where's Loanie event kept us moving for just about the entire two hour visit. Thankfully we had a brief shower to cool us off. We had two new families visit the bookmobile for a total of fourteen participants. 

Several families have commented on how much they enjoy trying to guess the location of the bookmobile from the weekly clues. One patron shared that she and her husband have made it a competition to guess the location. The patron shared that she has been forbidden to share the location with her husband first. It has been such a joy for the Outreach team to see how this program has come together. We have had a lot of fun meeting new patrons at each of these events. Who knows where Loanie will "Pop Up" next?

If you're not following the Library on social media @FoCoLibrary but want to see all the clues, they are posted weekly on the Bookmarked blog. Thank you for helping us get the word out about this engaging summer series!