Attention Smartphone-Toting Bookworms: New York Public Library Planning All-Night Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger hunts via mobile phones aren’t entirely new, but the New York Public Library has whipped up a pretty neat one.

The library will choose 500 people to spend the night of May 20 in its famed Stephen A. Schwarzman building in honor of its 100th birthday. Those taking part will trek through the 70-mile collection, exploring some of the library’s famous objects, such as Jack Kerouac’s glasses and a copy of the Declaration of Independence. For obvious reasons, the library isn’t saying too much about the actual challenges, but promises the event will involve more than 100 quests in total, with each team being assigned three or four tasks.

“There is something to be said for being in the presence of rare, historic objects,” said Caro Llewellyn, producer of the library’s Find The Future celebration. “Wikipedia and Google are fantastic, but to see objects like these in the flesh has enormous power and can truly inspire creativity, which is what the New York Public Library is all about.”

Participants have to find certain objects, then check in by scanning a bar code using a smartphone and then complete a written quest. The event, the first all-nighter for the library, was dreamed up by game designer and author Jane McGonigal.

Though it sounds like a dream for a young bookworm, the event is open only to those over 18.

Those who want to take part can go to the library’s Web site and complete an online application

The game is part of an ongoing effort by New York’s library to tap technology and social media. The library recently became the first public library with its own Foursquare badge for those checking out books.