Outwit, Outplay, Outlast

Earlier this week, four of the Fairmont City Library’s teenage patrons – Tami, Daniel, Daciy, and Robert – competed in “Survivor: Fairmont City Library,” our version of the hit reality T.V. show. The event, which was part of our Teen Read Week, pitted four of our teenage library patrons against each other in a battle of the ages. Not only did our patrons compete in Immunity Challenges, but they also visited Tribal Council to vote each other out one-by-one.
 

After getting to know the contestants – Tami, Daniel, Daciy, and Robert – it was time to get to the first Immunity Challenge. The first Immunity Challenge was divided into three legs, with a contestant being eliminated from the challenge (but not the entire game of “Survivor”) following each leg. For the first leg, the contestants were asked to balance a packet of oversized letters on their head while walking across the field behind the library. The first three contestants to walk across without their letters falling were Daniel, Robert, and Daciy, and they moved on to the second leg. For the second leg, the contestants used their oversized letters (A, B, and C) to answer multiple choice Trivia Questions. Daniel and Robert were the first contestants to earn five points with the questions, and therefore they moved on to the final leg of the first Immunity Challenge. For the final leg, the contestants and the audience moved inside to the Snack Bar, where it was revealed that Daniel and Robert would be facing off in a Smoothie Showdown and drinking a blend of Applesauce, Beets, and Coca-Cola. Robert talked the talk, but Daniel walked the walk and finished his drink before Robert did.

With the Immunity Idol in Daniel’s possession, the castaways headed out to Tribal Council to vote out either Tami, Daciy, or Robert. After a few questions, it was time for the contestants to cast their votes. Once the votes were tallied, it was determined that there was a tie – two votes for Daciy and two votes for Robert. It was then revealed that in the event of a tie, the deciding vote would go to the audience. And the audience voted for Daciy to stay, making Robert the first contestant ousted.

Once the Final Three – Daniel, Tami, and Daciy – were determined, it was time for their second (and final) Immunity Challenge. For this challenge, each of the final three contestants was asked to pick a member of the audience (either a friend or family member) who they trusted. Once each contestant had picked his or her teammate, the details of the challenge were announced: for this Immunity Challenge, the “Survivor” contestant would be blindfolded, and their teammate would be guiding them (by shouting at them) to three different buckets scattered across the field behind the library. Inside each bucket was a set of letters. Once contestants had brought back all of their team’s buckets, they could take off their blindfolds and begin unscrambling the letters to spell a familiar phrase. The first contestant to correctly unscramble their phrase would win Immunity and be guaranteed a one-in-two shot at becoming Fairmont City Library’s “Sole Survivor.”



When the challenge started, Daniel and Daciy had no trouble finding their buckets, but Tami struggled a bit. Daniel was the first to bring back all of his buckets of puzzle pieces, but Daciy was the first one to correctly unscramble her letters (which spelled the phrase “SOLE SURVIVOR”), making her the winner of the final Immunity Challenge. Once back at Tribal Council, it was all about Daciy. Since Daciy had the Immunity Idol, she couldn’t be voted for. Therefore, Daniel would’ve had to have voted for Tami, and Tami would’ve had to have voted for Daniel. Since their votes would’ve canceled each other out, it was pointless for them to vote, and the only vote that mattered was Daciy’s. She had the sole power of deciding who would be voted out and who would join her in the Final Two. After much deliberation, she went to the Voting Station and decided to vote out…



Daniel! Therefore, the Final Two contestants would be Daciy and Tami! Once the Final Two were settled into their final Tribal Council, it was revealed that the audience would be voting for the winner. Before the vote, however, Daciy and Tami were each given a chance to address the crowd and explain why they deserved to win more than the other finalist. Daciy went with the "I'll have your back if you ever get in a fight!" approach while Tami went with the "I'll help you with your homework!" approach. After their final statements, it was time for the audience to vote, and they decided that Fairmont City Library's "Sole Survivor" was Tami! Congratulations, Tami!