gaming

I just read a thoughtful article on gaming in libraries from Government Technology Magazine's February edition. It's no surprise to most that gaming has entered libraries in a big way, but still, I continue to hear murmurings of how gaming isn't a proper use of a library, or of a librarian's skills.

Last week our good friend, astute colleague and soon-to-be-mom Brenda Hough forwarded two articles that made me think about the role that libraries play in their communities during tough economic time.

Lori Reed is most likely a familiar name to you. She's a regular contributor to TechSoup for Libraries and MaintainIT. She recently facilitated an online class for NEFLIN, "Gaming in Libraries", which was based on content from the MaintainIT Cookbook, Planning for Success. I talked to Lori after the session and asked her how it went. Here's her reply.

I recently spent a day in the Teen Tech Lab at the McCracken County Public Library in Paducah, Kentucky. Although I wasn’t there for gaming (the library generously allowed the lab to be closed from 9-3 for a technology planning workshop for librarians), I did have a chance to talk to Jay and Roy – the library “tech guys” – about the extensive gaming opportunities provided at the library.

The Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County (PLCMC) in North Carolina has so many innovative programs and initiatives that I could probably write a book about it. I'll spare you that, however, and just discuss the coolest thing that I learned about from my talk with Kelly Czarnecki at PLCMC.

If you've read any articles about gaming, or you've sponsored tournaments at your library, or you've attended a library conference lately, you've likely heard the buzz around gaming in libraries. I LOVE watching librarians giggling and having fun playing Rock Band during conference down-times. At the recent ARSL conference, a certain someone was heard belting out classics while her colleagues accompanied her on drums and guitar (who knew that Margaret Miles--also a member of our steering committee--was such a rocker?).

This was a question that Micheal Krasny, host of the Forum on NPR's affiliate in San Franciso asked of his guests yesterday in an hour-long program called "The Future of Libraries." Al Escoffier, City Librarian for the Burlingame Public Library, Jane Light, Director of the San Jose Library, Jim Rettig, president of the American Library Association, and Martin Gomez, President of the Urban Libraries Council were on the program.

A couple stories have captured my attention recently since Chris' last post on gaming...

First off, the Verizon Foundation announced recently that they made a grant to ALA for a research effort to determine the link between gaming, library attendance, and literacy in libraries. Included in this grant is a "gaming model for the nation's 9,000 public libraries" developed by "experts"--I'm curious to learn what this will look like!

Thanks again to Kieran Hixon and Jesse Weaver of the John C. Fremont Public Library. They gave a great presentation this morning on their home-grown, open source PC Reservation program (recordings and information about upcoming webinars can be found on the WebJunction site) . Instead of recapping the webinar, I'd like to share a quote from our recent interview with Kieran. She tells a great story here about the impact that teen gaming events have had on her small-town library. She started these tournaments with equipment she already had in the library and donations from the community. So it didn't put a big strain on the budget.