Love was in the air on Valentines, especially in the library during extended homeroom. That was the culmination of the Blind Date with a Book. A little more than 20 students took a chance and checked out a "Blind Date" book. About 40 eligible books were covered with brown paper so students could not see the covers and 5 key words from the summary of the book were written on the back of the book. Students could read the back of the book, but they could not open the book for any other details of what the book was about. So based on the five word character profile, students checked out the "Blind Date" books. Anticipating some unhappy readers, we created a "dumped" box with sayings such as "It's not you, it's me," "It's just not working out," and "We can't even be friends anymore" written on it, so as we met "post-date" to discuss our dates students could throw the "dumped" books into the box. Surprisingly, out of the 13 students in the post-date meeting, only one books got dumped! Students discovered new authors and new types of books that they came to like. Several students reported having a rocky start to the date, but it got better the more chances they gave their date. One successful couple received a box of chocolates to celebrate with and the one dumped date also received a box of chocolates to drown the sorrows. All received a kiss...a Hersey's Kiss, that is.
In all seriousness though, one of the best parts of the "Blind Date with a Book" for Valentine's day was that over half the students reported that they read books they never would have checked out if they could have seen the covers.
