ALA to Study the Impact of Gaming on Literacy

By SLJ Staff -- School Library Journal, 7/7/2008

The American Library Association (ALA) plans to launch an innovative project to track and measure the impact of gaming on literacy skills.

The project, funded by a $1 million grant from the Verizon Foundation, will serve as a national model for library gaming.

“Gaming is a magnet that attracts library users of all types and, beyond its entertainment value, has proven to be a powerful tool for literacy and learning,” said ALA president Loriene Roy. “Through the Verizon Foundation’s gift, ALA’s gaming for learning project will provide the library community with vital information and resources that will model and help sustain effective gaming programs and services.”

As part of the grant, ALA will work directly with “12 leading gaming experts,” mostly public libraries, to document the use of gaming as a literacy tool and monitor the results of gaming initiatives. The information will be used to build “The Librarians’ Guide to Gaming,” a comprehensive, online literacy and gaming toolbox, which will then be fieldtested by additional libraries.

The libraries creating the best practices during the initial phase are: Ann Arbor District Library, MI; Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, NC; Columbus Metropolitan Library, OH; Georgetown County Library, SC; Minneapolis Public Library; Old Bridge Public Library, Fords, NJ; Pima County Public Library, Tucson, AZ; Reidland High School, Paducah, KY; School Library System of Genesee Valley BOCES, Le Roy, NY; New York Public Library; Todd Wehr Library, De Pere, WI; and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.