Erin Campbell, director of the Wellman-Scofield Public Library, wants to get true crime fans through the doors. To bring them in, she’s started a Murder Mystery Club that meets Monday evenings at 5 p.m. to engage with cold case files and have the experience of solving a mystery.

“These activities put you in the role of the detective, somebody who got a case file that’s been closed for maybe 10 years, and you have to figure out what mistakes were made in the original investigation and figure out what really happened,” Campbell said. “I absolutely love hearing people’s theories. I’m often surprised, like ‘I never would have thought of that!’ It’s interesting to see how other people’s brains work when it comes to solving mysteries or puzzles.”

So far, the Murder Mystery Club has used kids like Cold Case Crackers and The Unsolved Case Files, which include photos, evidence cards, notes and case files. In the future, Campbell is also interested in reading mystery stories with the group and discussing the investigations in them.

“I want to get people through the door to see that mysteries can be fun, that books are fun, and that it is interesting and rewarding to put your brain to the test by solving a mystery,” Campbell said.

Campbell wants to start more clubs like the Murder Mystery Club, too.

“We’re still in such a small space, but I try to look at it like, even though we don’t have that much space, we can still do fun things with what we have, and it doesn’t cost a lot of money to do those things,” Campbell said. “Finding like-minded people and getting everyone together is really important.”

The Wellman-Scofield Public Library is still working on its fundraising campaign to raise about $500,000 for an expansion. The library owns the building adjacent to the library and Campbell said she hopes, in the next five to ten years, that the library will be able to move into that space.

The “Love Your Library” campaign, running Feb. 1-15, gives interested parties three ways to contribute to the fundraising campaign in partnership with Usborne Books. Interested parties can go to BooksForOurKids.com, click shop, and then click “Wellman-Scofield Library” and the library earns 50% of every purchase. The website also has a wish list, where books can be purchased for the library in the donator’s name. Finally, financial donations can be made by visiting linktr.ee/BooksForOurKids.

“I already bought one of the books, showing that I love my library. I know I work here, but I still love it, even though I’m here every day,” Campbell said. “I just want to show our community that our library has potential to grow and will continue to grow. Getting more books in here is part of that growth process.”