Library games: first steps towards information literacy

An academic library where screams resound and students walk at a brisk pace, that’s what happened at the UCLouvain Science & Technology Library (BST) on October 18, 2018 at 6 p.m. when 26 students opened the first "Library Games". Welcoming new students, breaking with the classic image of the library, making the library's services and resources known in a playful way, encouraging meetings between professionals and the users and non-users, were all objectives that guided us in the development of the library games. The final aim being for students to know where to turn when faced with a literature search requiring more advanced information skills. Equipped with a survival kit (map of the library, how to read a book’s shelf mark, URL to access the catalogue), five teams competed to collect five clues as quickly as possible to reconstruct the shelf mark of a book and borrow it before the other teams. The collection of each clue made it possible to address one or more aspects of the library, whether they are services (loans, map library, etc.), resources (books, journals, etc.) or spaces (bookable group rooms, information desk, cafeteria, etc.). A debriefing time for a better appropriation of the information received and a friendly moment closed the evening. In the days that followed, an evaluation questionnaire was submitted to the participants. It appears from the nineteen responses received that the objectives were met. The students appreciated the convivial aspect of the event and the discovery of unknown services. Interesting proposals to develop the concept were also submitted. In conclusion, the comment of one of the participants: “When's the next one?