Think you can beat a librarian at 'Scrabble?' Here's your chance

WORCESTER — Once a month reference Librarian Melody Friedenthal sets up a few tables with a game of Scrabble and invites the community to join in. Friedenthal, a lover of Scrabble, came up with the idea about a year and a half ago.

"Scrabble supports the library's goal of literacy and building community," Friedenthal said. "So I thought that was a great way of doing that."

The popular word game requires players to put letters of the alphabet together to form words. Each letter and its placement on the board give the player points. The player with the greatest number of points wins.

The word "library," for example, will fetch a player 12 points, but place it on a pink double-word square and you'll earn a whopping 24 points or a red square for triple points.

The library does not require registration to participate in the game, but asks that players are 16 or older.

Friedenthal said she loves the game because it is a mental challenge.

"The more words you know, the more you can communicate and get the precise nuance," Friedenthal said. "I think also a big part of having Scrabble at the library is bringing people together."

Scrabble is only a part of the program. The main goal is to get strangers in the community to connect with each other, even if it's just for the game.

"Strangers will come and sit down and play a game together and enjoy each other's company and challenge each other," Friedenthal said. "They start off as strangers, then acquaintances, then friends."

But the game does more than just expand people's vocabulary and improve their literacy skills. It also tests memory as players learn more words and recall them during the game. Adding up scores also requires plenty of math.

The program will run through the spring, Worcester Library's Executive Director Jason Homer said.

The library already has numerous tables patrons can use for library-provided board games, too, but if patrons want more of a challenge, they can play a game of Scrabble with a librarian like Friedenthal.

"We're tough competitors when it comes to Scrabble," Homer laughed. "And we love reading."

Ultimately, though, the program is designed to promote community and literacy, Homer said.

"We really love Scrabble because it makes you look at words differently and come up with ways to connect phrases together," Homer said. "For us, it's also something deeply rooted in literacy. It allows us to promote the work in literacy that we do every day."

The next Scrabble day at the library is Saturday at 9:30 a.m. and next month Feb. 17.

"I hope that the community finds that the public library is a welcoming place," Friedenthal said. "It's a fun place to go to learn and meet other local people."

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester librarians will host games of Scrabble monthly