UNI is known for the wide variety of activities that are hosted during Welcome Week. It’s a way to transition into the new semester, get people involved in the UNI community and have a little fun before classes begin.

On Thursday Aug. 27, Rod Library hosted their second annual Bash in the Stacks. Although it’s unusual to see people running around in a library playing human Hungry Hungry Hippo or bowling between bookshelf lanes, it was an event attended by many people.

What is Bash in the Stacks? For a few hours, the library transforms into an arcade-like atmosphere, complete with many games to play and tickets that can be exchanged for prizes. Even TC and TK stopped by to play some games. Almost every floor of the library is utilized for this event, except the fourth floor, which is reserved as a quiet area for students that want to that want to study.

Many of the faculty and students across campus helped put on the event. The staff at Rod Library and Schindler worked at the stands, along with the A-Team, ISG, Peer Mentors, CAT Crew, Gamers Brigade and UNI Improv groups.

Although many people helped to make the event special, Library Assistant Melinda Beland was the brains behind the operation.

“I think it’s important that we hold activities like this here so people can see that the library is so much more than just books,” Beland said.

With 20+ events, including Improv shows, Minute to Win It, cup stacking, Silent Library and Zumba, it’s easy to forget you’re in a library at all.

Sophomore leisure youth and human services major Kassi Decuir has gone to the event both years and plans to come back for years to come.

“It’s so much fun. The best part is laughing at people you don’t know,” Decuir said. “It’s a good way to ease into the semester and have a little fun.”

Perhaps the coolest thing about the event was that every person that walked into the door was entered into a raffle drawing for prizes, with the grand prize being a new Kindle Fire. Everybody had a fair chance of winning, and you didn’t even have to be at the drawing to win it.

Finally, a scavenger hunt was held. For each picture you tweeted of a specific object (e.g. library printer, a view of the Campanile, etc.), you were entered in a drawing for a Rod Library umbrella.

Bash in the Stacks had an activity for everybody. Whether you’re somebody who goes to all the UNI events or not, the 2016 Bash in the Stacks during Welcome Week will be an event to keep an eye on.