OCL Reads
Welcome to the Oberlin College Libraries’ Reading Challenge. We are so excited that you have signed-up (or if you haven’t you can do so now). We hope the prompts on the bingo card will lead you to read a few books you may not have yet considered or some that have been on your reading list for a while. You have from the time you receive your bingo card until May 31st to complete the challenge. We offer these few tips to help get you started.
Once you have received and printed out your bingo card, you can make your winning reading plan. You will see 25 spaces that represent a different literary theme. Pick those that most interest you and plan to complete 5 boxes in a line (vertically, diagonally, or horizontally) to be entered for a grand prize.*
*Only current Oberlin students are eligible for the grand prize. Sorry, faculty and staff! The rest of us are competing for bragging rights! However, all participants are eligible for a small prize, which is earned by completing any two squares on the bingo card!
Finding the books to match your winning reading plan can be fun. You can strike out on your own and do a keyword search in OBIS using the prompts in the boxes or others related to the them. If you don’t find something in OBIS, you can check OhioLink (a consortium of 117 academic libraries in Ohio) or SearchOhio (a statewide sharing site of public libraries). If you’re looking for something like award winners, Google is also great tool. Once you have titles you can see if we have it with a title search in OBIS or in the search bar on the libraries’ homepage.
You can also visit and bookmark this blog to see what books we are highlighting for each literary theme in our Weekend Edition posts on Saturdays and Sundays. You will see at least 4 titles and get some tips about how and where you can find more for the theme highlighted that day.
Once you have read your book, write the title in the box of the theme for which it applies. Watch your email for further instructions about how to turn in your card closer to the deadline. We look forward to seeing what you’ve read, so please share a book cover or two on your preferred social media with the hashtag #OCLReads!
