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In December of 2005 I ventured to a Symposium offered
by the Metropolitan Library System about gaming in libraries. I
had been hearing rumblings about this “new” service and I
was intrigued about what this service really meant for libraries. It
seemed like a good way to get teens involved in the library. Teens
have always been a challenge for libraries--not the teens themselves,
but the “legends” that
we have about teens. So the symposium offered an opportunity for
me to get some insight into something I knew little about.
The first thing that I learned is that I was considered
a gamer. I
am a gamer because I play solitaire. In the context of the symposium,
gaming was used in the broadest sense of the word – board games,
computer games, hand held games, action games, video games, etc. Libraries,
for example, have had chess clubs for years and think that is perfectly
legitimate, but not video games. At the time I had the impression
that many libraries thought there was something sinister about offering
this – after all libraries are all about books and reading. If
we offer video games, we take away from our core mission. If they
are gaming, kids are not reading; they are looking at yet another
tube and not learning.
Speakers noted that there was and is a major image
problem with games in libraries. George Needham, Vice-President of Members Services
from OCLC, noted that the argument about having games in the library was
used in the 1970s about videos in libraries. What games and gaming
provide is just another way of conveying information and another media
format. As librarians and board members we need to be open and desirous
to look at all the media formats. Our users come in all sizes and
shapes with all types of information needs. Another key learning
for me is that gaming is what Jenny Levine calls “Cognitive Workouts.” Games
help teach critical thinking skills and we all need that in our complex
world. While we might not like all the variety of games, we also
don’t all like the same fiction books. Some people do not like
science fiction and others do; but we as librarians don’t criticize
people’s choices. So we shouldn’t criticize the choices
of someone wanting to play a video game rather than read a book. Both
people are learning and experiencing information in their own way.
During the conference we got an opportunity to
try various games. The
most entertaining for me was Dance Dance Revolution (DDR). It provides
an excellent workout and, oh, by the way, you have to think pretty quickly
in order to be very good at it. DDR is music video game. The
game is played on a dance pad with four arrow panels: left, down, up, and
right. Players use their feet to press the arrows based on the video screen. Many
libraries have had game nights in the library having both DDR and Guitar
Hero as the stars of the program with attendance by many teens that had
not been in the library before. See the article about Danville Public
Library’s game night.
I had two other “ah ha’s” at the conference. The
first is that, like most people, I think that teenagers, especially boys,
are the largest group of gamers. A study by AOL in 2004 found that
women over the age of 40 played online word and puzzle games and that they
spend less time watching TV because of that. I said before that I
am a gamer. I play solitaire probably more than I watch TV, or at
least I play it to take my mind off of everything--a clearing up and a
way to help me unwind. It is my way of “sitting still” and
letting my mind clear-–no worry about the outcome, just a mindless
activity. Others do word puzzles to keep the brain thinking about
new words. One of the most popular puzzles is Sudoko, a logic-based
number placement puzzle. When
you think about all the things that are games, it is no wonder that video
games and gaming in libraries is so attractive. The majority of people
engage in a gaming activity and the library should be helping those
customers as much as it helps those who want to read the latest best seller.
My last “ah ha” was the many connections of the online gaming
community, who play MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games). This
is a type of game that is an online role-playing video game. When
a person is involved in these they interact with many, many players throughout
the world. They help each other with the game; they have their own
social network. It was suggested by OCLC staff who play MMORPG games
that the collaboration that happens in these games is one that libraries
need to emulate when helping each other with day-to-day issues. This
is also a good model on how to help our customers and let them in on the
fun of being a “librarian.”
Even though I now can be classed a gamer, it still
seems to be another world. However, I learned a lot in the symposium and gained new insights
into how to serve our customers better. Look at the other feature
articles. We have one by Barb Nolan, edited by Amanda McKay, about
Video gaming at the Danville Public Library; another by Michelle
Ralston, PolyTalk Consultant at LTLS; on the views of a gamer; and finally
an article by Lori Bell and Kitty Pope about Second Life, a virtual world.
If you want to learn a lot more about Gaming in Libraries,
attend the Gaming, Learning, and Libraries Symposium sponsored by
ALA TechSource, in collaboration with the Association
of College & Research
Libraries (ACRL). It will be held in Chicago at the Chicago
Marriott O'Hare Hotel. It will begin at 1:00 p.m. on July 22 and end
at 1:00 p.m. on July 24. Also check out the Library Technology
Reports, September/October 2006, which is devoted to gaming. It
is entitled “Gaming and Libraries Intersection of Services” and
authored and edited by Jenny Levine.
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