Irr-Elephant is one of our best-beloved kids’ games—you can tell by how much tape is holding the box together! It was well-loved by the family who donated it, and even more so now. It’s old, but not the oldest in the library. That honor probably goes to my copy of Cathedral. Or possibly the modern printing of the Royal Game of Ur, the physical copy very recent, but the game itself over 4000 years old! Ur was the hottest game in Babylon, played by everyone from princes to paupers. Board games are not new—people have been playing games since there were people to make them up.

None of this is new: the world we live in now is filled increasingly with fear and uncertainty as well as people running towards the danger to help—this is just how humans are, and how we always have been. Every horrific shooting, natural disaster, and injustice to ANYONE affects EVERYONE, And I do mean everyone. This past week we remembered the work of Martin Luther King, Jr. who famously wrote in his Letter from the Birmingham Jail, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”—every one of these things feels new because we aren’t reading it in a history book, but living it. But all those folks in the past felt the same—How could this happen? For how long?

We have been making mistakes and hurting each other since there have been people, and we have been standing up for each other and binding each others’ wounds since there have been people, too. Like the games that are almost more tape than box, we keep repairing and restoring and reviving.

Friends, keep warm, keep heart, and keep playing.

Alice C., board game librarian

— WE ARE CLOSED 1/24/26 FOR SNOW. —

Play Tier auf Tier!

In English, that’s Animal Upon Animal, but we’ve got the German-language edition. In this game for two, players race to stack four animals on top of each other, the order based on the two rolled dice. Best three out of 5 wins. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Reader, it’s not. But it is ridiculous and fun! The box says ages 5-99—I suspect that’s a bit ambitious, but give it a try!

Try our Mead!

Speaking of old things, mead is possibly one of the oldest fermented beverages humans have made, with origins as long ago as 40, 000 years! Our friends at McAlpine Meadery have been making delicious mead in Beach City, Ohio since 2013. “McAlpine Meadery was the 35th Meadery registered in the US at that time. Our mission started with a dream to craft authentic, artisan style, and health-conscientious Mead, but over time, our small business blossomed into a huge network of support and friendship.” Currently, we have on-hand bottles of Dragon’s Breath—infused with strawberry, cinnamon, and habanero—and Blood of My Enemies—flavored with blood orange. If you’re in the mood to try something new—pardon me, something very, very old, order a mead next time you’re here! It’ll warm you up on a cold day.