Library Crawl 2024

Welcome to the 2024 NaperWriMo Library Crawl, part of the local events supporting the NaperWriMo Novel Quest. Be sure to consider attending some or all of our planned workshops in October (as always, all of our events are free!).

Writing a novel can be a daunting experience--it is a complex, huge task. But if you ease into it, you will find that it can be a manageable, rich experience that you can savor.

There are two ways to travel:

• The ever popular Library Crawl highways
• Themed back roads led by volunteer experts.

How do I prepare for Novel Quest?

There are preparatory workshops in October this year. See the calendar for details. If you've missed the preparatory workshops, see the notes and slides from all our past workshops.

What is the Library Crawl?

Originally the brainchild of Sarah Kovac (librarian at Carol Stream, the Library Crawl is intended to add a bit of fun to Novel Quest and encourage participants to visit each of the participating libraries in November, attending their write-in events.

This year, our Novel Quest events will be a mixture of in-person events and online events hosted on Zoom and google meet.

Covid-19 recommendations

There are still risks that come with Covid-19. Accordingly, people who attend in-person events who are concerned about Covid-19 are recommended to consider:

• Wear a mask. Masks can help reduce the spread of COVID, particularly higher quality, well-fitting masks like KN95s where feasible. Even if universal masking is unlikely to happen because of attitudes toward masks in your area, every mask helps.
• Stay up to date on your vaccinations. Vaccination enormously reduces the risk of serious illness and death for most people if you have gotten all the doses you are eligible for. Vaccination does not prevent you from contracting or spreading COVID, or eliminate the risk of long COVID.
• Remember: You can catch COVID more than once, and a prior infection does not protect you from further infections or dealing with symptoms of long COVID.
• Remember: Some people are more at risk from COVID than others, and those most at risk are often already marginalized by society in other ways. Even if high-risk people opt not to attend your event as a participant, they may be working in the space where it is being held.
• Remember: There is no one single solution to reduce or eliminate the risk of COVID; a layered approach of multiple mitigation methods offers the best protection.

In addition:

• Stay home with any symptoms, even if you are confident it’s not COVID—rapid tests are not infallible, and even non-COVID symptoms can cause a cascade of consequences for others who may have to miss work, keep children home, isolate from immunocompromised family members, etc. with any type of symptoms.
• Notify us if you do test positive shortly after attending an event.

When are the write-ins? Who is hosting?

During the month of November, there are many write-ins.

Some write-ins are actively hosted by the MLs, other participants, or library staff. There may be word wars, huzzah balls and other games (box of doom, for instance) and maybe even some small virtual prizes to encourage a lot of writing.

You can also find online write-ins every day in our online Discord chatroom.

What are the write-in logistics?

Subscribe to the NaperWriMo Novel Quest substack for the latest logistics of our NaperWriMo events. We highly recommend for you to go to as many write-ins (and October preparatory workshops) as you can. The more write-ins you to go, the more likely you are to reach your Novel Quest goal. And for each library crawl write-in you go to, you collect a (virtual) themed library card. Trust us, you want those cards.

What do NaNo participants do?

Just attend the scheduled write-ins; you'll have an opportunity to sign-in at the write-in. The more write-ins you attend, the greater your chance of winning a prize at our Quest Celebration.

What are the prizes and how many prizes can I win?

Prizes are being determined. There will be gift cards.

Do I have to be present to win?

Yes, to win a prize you must attend the virtual Quest Celebration party.

Which libraries are participating?

• Glen Ellyn
• Joliet Junior College
• Elmhurst
• Glenside
• Nichols Library (Naperville)
• Oak Park