You Got Game? Games and Literacy

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,” says ALA President Loriene Roy.

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,” an online literacy and gaming toolbox, which will then be field-tested by libraries.