Eastern Illinois University’s Student Government, in association with Booth Library, hosted the first-ever Book Bingo earlier this week on Wednesday night. 

Ty Rea, Student Government’s Vice President of Academic Affairs, kickstarted the event with the help of her graduation assistant Jyoti Lama to, “Promote both the place [Booth Library] and our [student government’s] name,” according to Rea. 

Rea also expressed her hope to continue this event at least once a semester moving forward. 

Amy Odwarka, Booth Library’s First Year Experience/Student Success Librarian, added to Rea’s hope saying, “The library is very excited to work with Student Government.”  

The rules for book bingo are not much different than regular bingo with the only change being that the numbers being called out and are on the cards, are replaced with book titles. 

These book titles were both drawn from a bucket and read off a slideshow containing a summary of the book and displaying the book’s cover. Both options were alternated between rounds starting with the bucket. 

Drawing from the bucket came with complications as there were multiple book titles within the bucket leading to frequent redraws. 

Like regular bingo, players had to achieve a five-in-a-row line on their cards either horizontally, vertically or diagonally. 

Players were also unable to win more than once or choose more than one gift card. Along with guessing which genre the books featured came from. 

These genres ranged from romance to science fiction with over half of the titles hailing from the realistic fiction genre and having a primary focus on race, gender and sexuality.  

All the books shown at the event are also available for checkout at Booth Library. 

After a round ended, students were given the choice to swap out or keep their bingo cards to continue their progress or start over with a potentially more beneficial card layout. 

Rushing for a bingo in round three, Nolan Miller, Morgan Drozs and Damaris Tarrat all tied for a choice at five available gift cards: three for dining dollars, one for Sonic and one for Chick-fil-A. 

However, the winning trio had a limited selection as they had to choose their prizes after the previous winners of round one and two, Jessica Roell and Brandon Bates, respectively. 

With all gift cards gone by the fourth and final round, Kayla Reyes Morales was unable to claim a prize. 

Looking at the calendar ahead, Booth Library also has multiple upcoming events for student to take part in. 

The first upcoming event will be a Crafting Galore themed around Thanksgiving from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on November 14. 

Beats & Books is an after-hours speed dating for book lovers featuring pizza, a DJ, dancing, mocktails and desserts.  

This event will be held at the library from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on November 15 and requires reservations with 75 available slots, nearly 30 of which are already filled. 

Reservations can be made via the QR code featured on multiple posters advertising the event found around Eastern’s campus. 

The library will also host another No Tech Night from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the South Clocktower Lounge on November 19. 

Luke Brewer can be reached at 581-2812 or at lsbrewer@eiu.edu.