PENDLETON — This Valentine’s Day, the Pendleton Public Library is trying something a little different: Valencrimes.

This free true crime trivia contest promises to entertain individuals with a date, individuals without a date or those hoping to learn how to murder their date.

“I’m learning a lot about criminology, let me put it that way,” Pendleton Public Library Director Jennifer Costley said. “I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Costley said she got the idea for the holiday theme from another library, which had an event, called Valencrimes, that focused on local crime. She loved the idea but decided to change the focus to trivia.

“Our trivia programs are some of our most popular programs for adults, and we have a true crime collection. That’s a common reference question we get, people looking for true crime books,” she said.

Valencrimes: True Crime Trivia begins at 5:30 p.m. on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, at the Pendleton Public Library. The questions will be in five different categories: Criminology (the study of crime), Crimes of Passion (to go with the holiday theme), Serial Killers (who doesn’t love serial killers?), Famous Cases, and How to Get Away with Murder (the educational portion).

There is no pre-registration required. Everyone who shows up will be given an answer sheet and a pencil, and the person with the highest score at the end of the contest will win a prize.

One word of note: Valencrimes is not a team trivia event but an individual competition. Participants cannot use their phones for looking up answers, cannot dial a friend, and cannot use library reference materials during the trivia contest. True crime books and other materials will be available for checkout before and after the event, however.

Costley does recommend people not research true crime before the event.

“I think that would ruin the fun,” she said. “Just come and do it like general knowledge trivia. You’re going to learn some things. I don’t want people to Google ‘true crime trivia questions’ on the internet, but I will say we are doing extensive research, and you cannot easily find our questions.”

If you cannot make Valencrimes, the next trivia program for the Pendleton Public Library is on Disney, and that will be in March. Costley said the date and details will be posted on the website and social media.

Anyone with questions about the event, or library programs in general, can contact the Pendleton Public Library at http://pendletonlibrary.com/, 541-966-0380 or pendletonlibrary97801@gmail.com. Library staff will also respond to Facebook messages.