Oh, yeah, I got so busy writing about the day I almost forgot what I sat down to write about.
A couple of years ago we were offering a "Teen Game Night" once a month at the library. I tried to offer different things to draw in a variety of people. Knowing that teens like video games, I thought it would be cool to have some kind of video game night. We don't have much of a budget to work with, so the best I could come up with was providing TVs. The teens would have to bring their own consoles with the draw being new people to play against or new games to try beyond their usual circle of friends. On three separate occassions I drove to different branches around the system collecting TVs, but no one ever showed up. I decided playing at the library just didn't have enough appeal and gave up on it.
Someone must have remembered I had the idea, though. I don't know who exactly started the conversation, but recently the computer people in our support services started investigated the idea of gaming in libraries. I was included on some emails and invited to a meeting to talk about it. That meeting was yesterday. I thought we would just be brainstorming the idea and exploring the possibilities, but it didn't take long to figure out that it had already been decided that we were going to have gaming, it was just a matter of how and when. By the end of the meeting we had committed to two tournaments at the Central library, one during winter break and one during spring break.
The first one is just going to be a trial run and we don't have much budget since it's the end of the year, so it will be "small scale." We'll only have four Xboxes, 30 entrants (ages 15-19), and one game (Halo). And only one prize--a new Xbox 360. Plus food and t-shirts and consolation prizes and staffing, etc. This is going to end up costing half of my yearly programming budget at a branch. And this is the small one? Wow! I'm not complaining and I'm certainly glad to be involved, but I'm jealous that those in this group with me obviously have influence with the powers that be. Imagine what I could do with my programming given that kind of money. Anyway, it's a cool idea and I hope it takes off and grows. It could be a lot of fun.
Oh, and the Chicago thing. It turns out there's a symposium on gaming in libraries early next month. The powers that be also approved three staff to attend, one of which should be a public service staff. As basically the only one in the group who meets that criteria, I get to go. Cool.
Hmm . . . if I buy my own Xbox to get familiar with the games can I count it as a tax write-off now?
4 comments:
I guess I really am the only one left; the only person who thinks that libraries are supposed to be quiet, serious, studious places. Gaming?!?!? Blasphemous. Really. X-Box and Radcliffe Camera, they just don't go together in my mind. Call me old-fashioned.
I with you. I don't like the idea of gaming in the library. As much as I love teens and I know that they like gaming, the library is a library--books. Guess I'm like so last century.
On a side note--does anyone from Central YS staff know this? This is the first I heard...Wouldn't be the first time they neglected to educate us on what might be happening with the library. How are we supposed to "buy in",as Erica Reynolds would say?
i think gaming in the libraries is the stupidest idea ever thought of. libraries are supposed to be quiet places that people come to get work done, not fucking child drop-off points for lazy parents.
Scott, did you even read this blog entry?!!! Quit being a grumpy old crumudgeon!
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