Are You Game?

Thanks to electronic games, attracting teens has never been easier

By Aaron Schmidt -- School Library Journal, 6/1/2006

You’ve heard the buzz about how hosting gaming events will have young patrons beating a path to your library. Marianne Kruppa, a Web developer librarian at St. Joseph County (IN) Public Library (SJCPL) has seen it happen firsthand. “Game nights grow exponentially,” she says. “When one kid has a great time, she brings one or two friends to the next event. Then those kids bring their friends!”

Kruppa, one of SJCPL’s resident techies and a major Nintendo fan herself, helps organize game events at the library, an eight-branch institution that serves a suburban, middle-class community of 250,000 in South Bend. Launched as a single exhibition event in December 2005, SJCPL’s gaming program now boasts regular gatherings around popular video and computer games like Mario Kart DS, Double Dash, Metroid Prime, and Animal Crossing. Back in December 2005, the debut drew a ragtag bunch of about a dozen observers, but since then, SJCPL’s game events have attracted more than 30 enthusiastic and extremely focused youngsters every couple of weeks.

You’re probably wondering how you can make this happen at your own institution. Like many librarians, you may be a little intimidated by the hardware. But only a few things are needed to stage a gaming event, and they don’t cost a king’s ransom. So let’s get the geeky stuff out of the way.

You can’t play video games without a console. Currently, the popular game systems are PlayStation 2 (PS2), Xbox (including the new Xbox 360), and the Nintendo GameCube. Forthcoming systems include the PlayStation 3 (due out November 2006) and the Nintendo Wii (pronounced “whee”). The systems are different just like there are different makes of cars; they all do essentially the same thing, but with varying styles and features. There are variations in controller design, graphics, and speed, but primarily, each system has exclusive games that can only be played on that console. Nintendo, for example, has exclusive titles related to its mascots, Mario and Link (the main character in the Zelda games), while Xbox boasts the two very popular first-person shooter Halo titles. For PS2, there’s the exclusive series Gran Turismo, a driving simulator, and Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), a game that’s all in the footwork. (For more detailed reviews of games and an overview of their content ratings, see SLJ’s new gaming column, pp. 91–94.)

The games that you want to feature at your event will determine the system that you choose. Gabe Oppenheim, a reference librarian and gaming event host at the LaGrange Park (IL) Public Library, has his own preferences. “Consider the PS2 because it has nearly all of the party-style games,” he says, referring to those games designed to be played by more than one person. “The GameCube comes with a free game and is cheap. The Xbox and Xbox 360 don’t have a good, unique selection of party- style games right now.”

Each of these systems costs less than $150, with the exception of the Xbox 360, which runs between $400 and $600. But you needn’t worry about breaking the bank for your first gaming event. If you have other activities available (board games, for example, such as Dungeons and Dragons), you should be able to serve a roomful of 50 kids with one or two systems. A gaming night doesn’t have to be any more expensive than hiring a performer or someone to lead a craft activity. It may actually be more cost efficient in the long run considering the equipment can be used again and again.

Still not sure which system to buy? Ask your young library patrons—they’ll surely have an opinion. It’s a good idea, especially while you’re in the early planning stage, to allow the kids to take some ownership of the program. Take advantage of their enthusiasm for gaming and encourage them to actively participate in your gaming advisory board. In addition to helping you choose the right system and games, the board can help contribute to a successful event in other ways. But more about that later.

To round out your assembly of hardware, consider displaying games using an LCD projector for an impressive presentation that will really draw kids. Seeing their characters on screen, larger than life, is something most users can’t easily do at home. Also look for ways to maximize your sound quality. Video-game systems can be hooked up to a stereo receiver through either a digital optical cable or RCA cables. A huge display and a thumping stereo system will wow even the most experienced gamers.

Once you’ve lined up your games and equipment, you can choose to run your program in one of two ways. There are open-play nights in which participants take turns playing games. Tournaments, complete with prizes for the winners, are splashier events, but take more effort to produce. For your first event, I recommend the open-play format. But perhaps your game advisory board has ideas of its own.

What about Computer Games?

There are many popular computer games, such as RuneScape, World of Warcraft, and The Sims 2, which are played over a LAN or on the Web. If your library is well stocked with workstations, you could conceivably use them for a gaming event. But many computer games aren’t the type that people can just pick up and play casually. Highly involved and requiring many hours to complete, they might not be appropriate for open-play gaming events where players take turns competing against each other. Yet computer games are the perfect basis for forming a club. Your library more than likely serves a few RuneScape enthusiasts, and they certainly would appreciate having a physical meeting place. You might need to enlist the help of the IT department to get the games working on your security-laden computers, but with any luck you’ll have a gamer among your tech staff.

The folks in IT aren’t the only ones you’re going to have to win over. There are the powers that be at your institution who may not have partaken of the gaming Kool-Aid. If that’s the case, don’t go it alone when pitching the idea of gaming, advises Beth Gallaway, an avid gamer and consultant for youth services at the Massachusetts Metrowest Regional Library System. “Find one or two people who can support you, including other staff and even students,” she says. “Sometimes they just need to hear it from someone else other than the crazy YA librarian or technogeek.” You can also garner support by partnering with community institutions and businesses, such as local schools and gaming and electronics stores. Cosponsoring events can help defray equipment and other costs, enhance your marketing efforts, and extend your outreach into the community.

The Big Event

Once your boss gives you the green light, start advertising the program. School newspapers and library newsletters, both in print and online, are good places to start. Print up small, palm-sized cards that describe the event and hand them out to students to place around the library and school. The more you can make them look like a flyer for a rave and less like a bookmark, the better. And make sure to talk up the event with the kids themselves, especially your youth advisors who can help draw attendees through word of mouth.

A blog is another publicity tool and an especially effective one with teens. Setting one up takes about five minutes. For a little inspiration, check out the fine gaming blog created by Illinois’s Lewis and Clark Library System (LCLS) (gamingatyourlibrary.com). It’s the work of Chris Deweese, LCLS’s Internet application developer, who’s also the man behind the system’s successful series of gaming events. A gamer himself, Deweese launched the first event in January 2006 at the Glen Carbon Centennial Library, one of LCLS’s 147 member libraries, mostly with equipment he brought from home. That event, which drew more than 65 kids, has since sparked other gaming nights at LCLS.

One thing he never does at these events, Deweese says, is promote library services. “Kids get stuff shoved on them all the time,” he says. “We decided to just offer [gaming] as a fun activity, to show teens that the library is a place they can hang out in.” Still, Deweese commonly sees kids at gaming nights wandering into the stacks to look at books. The same thing has happened at St. Joseph County’s game nights, where Kruppa fondly recalls her book discussions with Speedy, a gamer nicknamed for his love of caffeine. “Game nights let them know librarians are approachable,” says Kruppa. “And we’re pretty cool.”