American Library Association goes gaming
by Ben Gilbert 
{ Mar 5th 2009 at 2:03AM }
The toolkit is comprised of "resources, tips, and best practices" for aspiring libraries to join in the national push and hopes to inflate the current American literacy rate into the triple digits. Rather than simply adding various video games to a library's catalog, the toolkit emphasizes the use of games as a social medium -- championing a variety of board games old and new as well as the Nintendo DS and Playstation 3 in the aforementioned video.
To be perfectly honest, considering the price of gaming coupled with that whole "global economic recession" thing we keep hearing so much about, heading out to the library for games sounds like a welcome change.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tim @ Mar 5th 2009 2:30AM
1. Oh, I'd LOVE to go to my local public library, solely for playing Marvel VS Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, while humiliating them and playing as Roll. XD
Oh, I can dream for that day to come...
2. Yes, I can see it now: librarians, helping me to build my own game library.
Sean @ Mar 5th 2009 2:50PM
Hey man don't knock it, I work in a library, and I am a huge gamer. I work on a Marine Corps base, and we are doing gaming programs that include gaming with the Marines, and with the families. Its a lot of fun.
blitzkrieg999 @ Mar 5th 2009 2:37AM
The King County Library System in Washington has been doing this for a number of years. One of the branches I work at has Guitar Hero II, DDR, and a number of other games, along with a PS2. The weekly gaming events are actually very popular, and bring a lot of kids into the branch (which is exactly what ALA is advocating!)
vdeogmer @ Mar 5th 2009 3:52AM
Just don't tell anyone in Omaha.
Kyle @ Mar 5th 2009 9:57AM
Oh, snap!
JoeTheBlow @ Mar 5th 2009 5:55AM
WTF is that fat guy in the purple doing?
LunarAura @ Mar 5th 2009 6:08AM
Grimacing.
enoch111 @ Mar 5th 2009 7:03AM
He's surrounded by women, one of them talk to him, BOOM, liquid explosion.
Rocketboy @ Mar 5th 2009 7:19AM
"forcing someone else to pay for games sounds like a welcome change"
I fixed it for you.
Farseer (GDI) @ Mar 5th 2009 8:12AM
Sounds like someone is a bitter conservative. ;)
Rocketboy @ Mar 5th 2009 10:55AM
Not bitter, and not specifically Conservative either. So wrong on both accounts.
Just someone who works hard for my money.
justshovejayohbe @ Mar 5th 2009 2:23PM
It's not "your" money anymore when your governments collect it, it's their money, so quit complaining.
TheHoyt @ Mar 5th 2009 9:10AM
Now I agree with the gaming in libraries initiative, and believe that Rock Band and other games might draw more kids, but is it really necessary for libraries to be buying the $300 Ion kit (with the extra $50 cymbal) that's sitting behind her head?
Farseer (GDI) @ Mar 5th 2009 9:33AM
I guess that begs the question, will they spend more on replacement drum kits and kick pedals in the long run than they spend on a more robust kit from the onset?
If the initiative takes off, these things will see 4-8 hours of daily use. At that rate, the standard drum kit would probably need repair or replacement on a regular basis.
Rocketboy @ Mar 5th 2009 10:56AM
Why not, it's not their money.
ScottG13 @ Mar 5th 2009 9:11AM
This is great. Libraries are for the collection and free dispersal of information. Gaming is an information medium not unlike CDs or movies. The fact that they're willing to not just collect these bits of information but design dispersal scenarios that involve the public like this is simply amazing.
snowleopard233 @ Mar 5th 2009 9:16AM
Man, that party looks off da hook!
Trance Addix @ Mar 5th 2009 9:40AM
I laugh at this picture.
MrsSquin @ Mar 5th 2009 1:34PM
For any future librarians out there:
Gaming in Libraries - The Course
http://www.gamesinlibraries.org/course/
343 Guilty Fart @ Mar 5th 2009 2:26PM
They just announced a class on Gaming in the Library in my grad school program for fall semester. I can't wait to sign up!
mortegro545 @ Mar 5th 2009 3:30PM
Whats up with the rainbow parade people watching the better dressed person play Wii?
And where did blu team go?
geekzapoppin @ Mar 5th 2009 5:41PM
I'm a Teen Programmer at the busiest library in the state of KY. We've been having gaming programs of one kind or another for the past two years or so. About six months ago, I was able to secure the funds to purchase gaming equipment and laptops for an after-school Teen Space that I run every Monday and Wednesday in one of our meeting rooms. It gives kids, many of whom can't afford their own systems, a chance to have fun and socialize. It also gets them into the library. The hardest thing to do is to convince teens that the library is not only beneficial to them, but that we want them here. Since beginning the Teen Space, the attendance at my evening programs has almost doubled. The may initially come for the games, but they often leave with books, music, movies, etc. This isn't a case of wasting taxpayer dollars on frivolous things; it's a case of libraries evolving in order to survive and also finding ways to attract a section of the community that has been traditionally ignored.
For those of you with disposable income and the means to furnish your home with the latest and greatest games/consoles: congratulations. Enjoy your stuff. For the rest, there's the Library. Yay, us!
NFK @ Mar 5th 2009 6:47PM
I think it's really great that libraries are making an effort to get more kids reading, and I think it's even cooler that so many parts of society that never touched gaming are starting to embrace it.
Now though, I think it'd be quite boring, lame, and you'd have to have busy friends if you went to the library for your social engagement instead of just hanging out at somebody's house. What's a gaming party without energy drinks/beer (depending on age), loud music, poker, pizza, and rated M games?