The Great Library Mystery

Bridgetown’s Primary School librarian, Sarah Muizarajs, when tossing up several different ideas on how to celebrate Book Week this year had the thought of creating a mystery around the library.

She then wondered if maybe the Bridgetown Police might render some assistance in creating a crime scene. When discussing the idea with some fellow staff members as to whether they thought it was a good idea or not, she found out one staff member’s husband was in the police force.

Sarah happily tells us how it all unfolded, “It all grew out of an idea to promote Book Week, along the lines in the mystery and suspense genre.

“I had a thought that maybe the police may give us a little of their time, but as it turned out, police officers Ben and Mike, on their day off, spent the whole day at the school helping to set the scene, solve the crime and then arrested the villain.

“Students arrived at school that day to find the library a mess. Some books had been stolen, cupcakes were half eaten and there were big messy footprints everywhere.

“The library was declared a crime scene. Police Officers Ben and Mike were on hand to help solve the mystery.

“The students learnt how to gather the clues, identify the suspects, all of who were staff members, and they then worked together in teams to solve the mystery of the missing books.

“Fingerprints were taken, mug shots of the suspects were captured, clues where spotted; the messy footprints, the fact that keys were used to enter the library, the perpetrator’s coffee mug was left behind and the discovery of what was stolen from the library, which were books on plants and gardening.

“As you may have guessed, the gardener became the prime suspect and was duly arrested.

“The day was a huge success and we are very grateful for the involvement of our local police officers’ this being an example of community policing at its best, and my thanks go out to all the staff who help create and took part in this memorable whole of school event.

“Having been shown such a fun aspect of the mystery and suspense genre during Book Week it is hoped it helps to reignite the spark into students reading more books, (especially mysteries!) and there was a secret bonus of having several students consider careers and making wonderful connections with the police in our community.”