Escape Room @ the library!

Next week, the library will be presenting its own version of an escape room. An escape room is a real-life, physical space where a group of players search for clues and then solve puzzles and riddles in an attempt to break out of the room. In our case, you will be trying to break INTO a room, but it is the same concept.

I became obsessed with escape rooms over ten years ago, before they were physical and when they were mostly just Japanese and eastern European produced flash games on websites that would end up loading your PC with massive numbers of adware and viruses. Those viruses seemed to regularly thwart even the best of security programs.

When tablets and apps came out, escape rooms seemed to become more digitally safe, because in theory your big name app stores like Apple, Google and Amazon will vet apps before making them available, right? Unfortunately, it is still very, very important that you take security precautions, just like you should have been doing with your PC. 

Not only do you want to scan your apps, but more importantly, you need to read and find out for which “permissions” the apps you want to download are asking. If you download apps without reading about them, you very well could be giving them permission to take some very insecure actions like recording audio, reading your texts, accessing your location and more. 

A lot of time, the permissions for which the apps ask sound really, really technical and scary and important, but are in fact harmless. At other times, the requested permission sounds innocuous, but could actually have far reaching effects. If you aren’t sure whether one of these “permissions” is harmful, then check it at a site like Carnegie Mellon’s http://privacygrade.org to find out.

But—to stay really safe—just sign up for the library’s escape room being held at various times throughout the day July 9-14. To register, visit http://tinyurl.com/splescape. Up to five people can register together during one of the 45 minute escapes. If you are on your own or don’t have five people, just sign up for one of the slots with a few people registered. You must be an adult or a student going into at least sixth grade to attend.

The slots are filling up pretty quickly, so it is a good idea to sign-up as soon as you can. If you can’t get a slot, then there are plenty of other exciting happenings at the library next week: 

Tuesday, July 10 (10 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.) – Juggle Whatever. Lights! Music! Circus! Kids and their families will be dazzled by a glow-in-the-dark circus show set to fun music with a variety of high-tech LED props including hula hoops, juggling, unicycling and much more.

Wednesday, July 11 (2:30 p.m.) Geology Rocks! The OSU Geology department will bring fascinating hands-on geology demonstrations to SPL. Teens will have a chance to interact firsthand with different types of rocks and participate in activities involving the different minerals. The geology group will present information on other facets of geology and answer questions posed by the teens.

Thursday, July 12 (10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.) –Summer Cinema. This PG rated film tells the imaginative story of a young girl and a friendly giant who introduces her to the wonders and perils of Giant Country. 

Friday, July 13 (1 p.m.) – Friday Musicals. In this rated G film based on The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy is a shy Harlem kindergarten teacher who is transported to the land of Oz during a blizzard. There she meets up with assorted characters who accompany her on her journey down the yellow brick road.

Friday, July 13 (6:30 p.m.) – Fribrary. The Anime Club for young adults meets to watch anime, eat Japanese snacks and draw.

As a reminder, the library will be closed all day Wednesday for Independence Day, but we still have several fun events this week:

·       Tuesday (10 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.) - Hill's Irish Dancers

·       Thursday (10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.) - Summer Cinema

·       Friday (6:30 p.m.) – Teen Advisory Committee

For more information on any of the upcoming programs, visit http://library.stillwater.org.