East Hartford Public Library Introduces an Escape Room

One of the meeting rooms at the East Hartford Public Library has been magically transformed into a Hogwarts crime-scene with cryptic messages hidden throughout the room, skulls scattered around and a prevalent mysterious atmosphere.

The transformation is only temporary but it has received such a positive feedback from library-goers, that organizers are considering bringing it back in the fall.

Inspired and organized by two librarians, this year the East Hartford Public Library debuted its Harry Potter-themed escape room to raise funds for further programs at the facility.

According to Library Director Sarah Kline Morgan, the idea of an escape room was put forward by two librarians—Sandy DiCicco from children’s services and Rebecca Livaich from adult services.

Following months of preparation, search for necessary props, brainstorming of riddles and, finally, transformation of the room—the Escape Room greeted its first visitors this summer.

Since the beginning of August, over 220 people attended the Escape Room with more participants to come.

The entire project has been a collaborative effort of library staff who created most of the props, while the rest came from the Senior Center Thrift store.

Morgan said the idea was originally pitched with the initiative to help introduce more millennials to the library. The result, however,exceeded all expectations as the escape room drew a crowd of intergenerational population from all over the state.

In fact, the program has been so popular that organizers had to prolong it for two additional weeks.

“It’s something so fun and exciting and it brings new people into the library,” Morgan said. “It’s also a wonderful opportunity to introduce people to our programs.”

Livaich said the theme was easy to pick because everyone likes Harry Potter and it was fun to work with.

“It’s a fun activity where you have to use problem-solving skills and work together,” Livaich said about the Escape Room. “We had a whole bunch of different groups come in with different levels of experience but they all seemed to have fun.”

Once teams solve the puzzle they are invited to take a photo in their Harry Potter-themed costumes as a reward.

Although there are no more available sessions left, the library hopes to bring the escape room back in the fall. Potential dates for fall sessions will be announced on the Library’s website and on Facebook. For more information call the Library at 860-290-4330.