Less Like a Lesson, and More Like an Adventure

When I put out a call on Twitter for ideas for the Accidental Technologist, I didn't expect to get anything quite as bold as this. Matt Finch (@booksadventures on Twitter) mentioned his use of zombies and Angry Birds in literacy programs, which sounded like a great fit for the column. But the piece before you is more than another exploratory piece on games in libraries. It meditates seriously on the way we engage our communities and use technology. It provides great examples as well as food for thought, all in a style far more enjoyable than my own, so without further ado ... --Editor It's high noon in Tullamore, a tiny Australian farming town. The streets are deserted. The only sign of life comes from the public library, a cramped adjunct to the community hall. There, thirty-two students are clustered around what appears to be a crime scene. Bloody handprints cover the walls. Bookshelves have been knocked to the ground in some desperate struggle. Despite the ominous silence, the kids suspect their teachers are playing a prank on them. They were brought from school to the library for a writing workshop--so is this "crime scene" the beginning of a murder mystery game? The question is on their lips when a low moan comes from the street outside. Lurching through the summer heat toward the library are dark figures dressed in rags, their faces cracked and deformed. These are the walking dead. Zombies attack! There are screams as the teachers hurry students inside and barricade the doors. Only the library can save them now ... hey haunt our cinemas and television sets. We dress as them, dream of them, and battle them on our videogame screens. But what can librarians and accidental technologists learn from the age of the zombie? In November 2012, as part of a day-long storytelling event for students of Tullamore Central School, a group of 32 children aged from 8 to 18 years were besieged in the town library by local volunteers dressed as zombies. Students had to research survival techniques using a range of fictional and non-fictional texts, then prepare a list of survival resources and map out an escape route from their town. They were supported by local firefighters, who delivered lunch in the form of "emergency rations," and guided the children to a 'safe zone' at the end of the day. Two reporters from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) were also in attendance, covering the event for local radio and supervising teen bloggers writing for the ABC Open community scheme. During the zombie event, three Parkes Shire services came together to address their own individual goals: the library, fire service, and department of education. The library raised its profile in Tullamore and demonstrated its relevance to the community by offering an immersive literacy activity; firefighters engaged the community with an awareness of the need to prepare for natural disasters; and the local school followed the event with a week of rich learning activities based on the dramatic one-day experience. Beyond the thrill of a playful encounter with looming monsters, the zombie siege of Tullamore offers an example of creative outreach and engagement by a rural library service, working with a range of community partners and blending traditional activities with contemporary social media. MARKETING AND OUTREACH: THE LESSON OF PARKES SHIRE Tullamore is located within Parkes Shire in rural New South Wales. The county is not a renowned literary centre. Its main industry is mining, and its greatest claim to fame lies with a vast radio telescope, which played a crucial part in the 1969 moon landings--a tale recounted in the 2000 Sam Neill movie The Dish. This might sound inauspicious for people in the library business, but this small community has proved to be a passionate testing ground for literacy schemes that have since spread across Australia, and beyond. …