March 30, 2008
Are Games Hurting Libraries?
Posted by LibraryGamer under Libraries, games | Tags: games, Libraries, Literacy |I always have a bit too much on my plate, but then I wouldn’t have it any other way. As I made my way through some backlogged reading I came across this article by Dave Gibson featured in the American Chronicle:
Our Public Libraries Are Being Turned Into Video Arcades
In essence, Mr. Gibson contends that libraries are contributing to the dumbing down of America by shifting their focus away from literature. His memories of libraries are of a place of quiet reverence and literate study and that by offering movies and games, libraries are helping to contribute to illiteracy in America.
Literature is still relevant to today’s youth, but it is competing with a host of other leisure activities. And sadly, literature often gets lost in the shuffle. Today’s libraries have not stopped being a place where literature is respected or readily available. Nor have best sellers and classics disappeared from collection development. What some are noting is an adaptation in marketing.
Libraries have always been a social gathering space to learn, discuss and share ideas and information both of a scholarly and leisurely nature. Book clubs, weekend concerts and magicians are nothing new to library spaces. They were marketing tools that brought the community together and provided librarians an opportunity to meet new faces and share new books.
Games too, have been in libraries for many years, it is only the format and focus that has changed. Bridge clubs and chess matches easily fit the mold of THE TRADITIONAL LIBRARY. But those were older games that targeted an older crowd. Libraries are looking for authentic ways to connect with the youth and get them in the door.
What happens inside has not changed despite the years. Leisure activities and literature intermingle in a delicate dance, and yes… learning still takes place. Games convey a host of skills related to both traditional literacy/curriculum standards and more modern ones as well, see Gaming, School Libraries and the Curriculum, What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy by James Paul Gee (Palgrave MacMillan 2003), and Redefining Literacy for the 21st Century by David Franklin Warlick (Linworth 2004).
You can still find traditional activities taking place in libraries across the country, but times change and libraries do too. Without growth and adaptation, libraries run the risk of becoming like Mr. Gibson’s halls of quiet reverence… a nostalgic memory.
March 30, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Here’s the response I sent to Dave Gibson. He didn’t respond.
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Greetings!
I’m the researcher at Syracuse who has been studying gaming in libraries.
There is a critical point about gaming in libraries that you missed in your article.
A gaming event in a library is a program. It’s like a storytime program, but for a larger audience; it’s a chance to explore another world with other people. Libraries have had gaming for a long time – chess boards, scrabble clubs, and bridge clubs have all been part of public library history. It is one program that will be offered, in a balanced way, alongside other programs. It’s not designed to replace traditional library services.
Should the library stop hosting knitting clubs because they aren’t reading while they knit? Should they close down community rooms if it’s not a community read-aloud? No. These services draw people into the library, and once in the library, these people are much more likely to engage with other library resources and services.
Many libraries offer coffee. It’s a service to allow people to feel more comfortable in a library. Coffee doesn’t have anything to do with books, but people spend more time in libraries if there is a place to get coffee.
Gaming programs are similar. It’s a service to allow people to feel more comfortable in a library. Gaming is relevant to some library users as coffee is relevant to other library users.
But it’s not designed to replace reading; in fact, many libraries use it as a way to make the library seem like a welcoming space to spend time. If a teen never comes to the library, the chance of them using other library services is zero. If they come into the library, then the chance of them using other services goes up.
In fact, in another study that we did, we asked libraries who ran gaming programs if people who came for the gaming program returned another time for non-gaming services. 76% of libraries reported that users who attended a gaming program came back another time for non-gaming services. People who spend time in a book-rich environment are much more likely to engage with a book.
Rather than attacking a library program that is drawing traditional non-users into the library, perhaps you can recommend other ways to attract non-library users to books. You make it clear in your article that your parents brought you to the library. This was your chance to be exposed, and as you spent more time there, you found more things to interest you.
What about kids whose parents never bring them to the library? Since many turn to the commercial spaces of bookstores for book needs and the Internet for many other information needs, some parents don’t see the value to bringing their kids to the library. For you, the “Service” that brought you in the door was your parents. Gaming programs can draw kids to ask their parents to go to the library.
If the kids don’t ask to go and parents don’t bring them, then the kids will never have the same chance you did to explore the library. You were privileged to have parents who valued the library; not all kids have this. Gaming is a way of reaching out to kids who didn’t grow up with the value that the libraries are good places to be. It is also a way to reach out to adults without kids who want to meet other members of the community non-commercial, non-religious setting. But it is just one activity, and not the main goal of the library.
Scott Nicholson