Are Games Hurting Libraries?

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.

 

Shadows Over Camelot

Number of Players: 3 to 7

Grade Levels: Middle and Up

Length: 45 Minutes +

NYS Standards:
ELA Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding
ELA Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation
ELA Standard 4: Language for Social Interaction Students

Together, a noble band of brave knights strive to fend off the onslaught of forces besieging Camelot while keeping an ever watchful eye on their own brethren. There are whispers of a traitor in their midsts. One of their own, striving to offset the company’s efforts to fill the halls of Camelot with the glories of triumph.

So the stage is set for Days of Wonder’s cooperative adventure: Shadows Over Camelot. Players take on the role of one of Camelot’s Knights of the Round Table and, working together, struggle to defend Camelot from the enemies that hope to see it fall. Struggle is an apt word to describe what lies ahead of the knights. Failure is ensured if the players do not work together and take advantage their unique qualities.

 

Max

Grade Level: Primary

Players: 1 to 8

Time: 20 minutes

Games today come with bits. Shiny bits, wooden bits, chits and meeples, animeeples… We see the big box and the eye candy inside and we think, wow this has to be a great game. Sometime it is, but strip away the frills and flair and you are still left with a game.

Max is a simple, frill-free primary level game by Family Pastimes, a company that focuses on cooperative games. Unlike traditional roll and move games for children, where the players move their tokens and accept what fate awaits on each square as they race for the goal, players in Max work together to move three animals to safety before they are caught by Max the cat.

 

Numbers League

Numbers League is a clever card offering from Rochester’s Bent Castle Workshop. Up to four players participate in this quirky superhero themed game of build and capture. The game’s 20-30 minute play time makes it an easy fit into a class period. And while the initial game incorporates elementary mathematics, the Infinity Level Expansion takes the skill level up to a middle school math.

In the center of the gaming area are various villains, each assigned a numerical value ranging from single digit negatives to around fifty. Players work to capture them by building superheroes from cards in their hands. Cards represent heads, bodies and legs of differing numerical quantities. Their body part’s combined value is used to match and thereby capture villains. So, a hero with a 3 head, -1 body and 2 legs could capture a villain with a value of 4.

 

Gaming, School Libraries and the Curriculum

Games engage students with authentic leisure experiences while reinforcing a variety of social, literary and curricular skills. When an educational concept is introduced and reinforced during a game, it is internalized as part of an enjoyable experience and further utilized as one aspect of a strategy to attain success.

Games also carry other benefits. They help students connect and build social skills, working as part of a team or negotiating the most advantageous situation for themselves. It also provides an opportunity for students to to explore a host of life skills not inherent in the curriculum , but important for success. Some of these include: micro-managing resources and options; actively re-evaluating, re-prioritizing and re-adjusting goals based on uncertain and shifting situations; determining acceptable losses in an effort to obtain an end goal; and employing analytical and critical skills to more authentic social experiences.

Here is a list of NYS standards currently supported by a well established school game library: