When you think about your local school, college, or public library, you probably think of them as a place to borrow books you might be interested in reading. If you've been there recently, you might even be aware that most libraries offer check-outs of music CDs, audio books, and DVD videos. What you probably don't imagine is that many libraries also loan out hobby games, including video games.
That was the point of a presentation made this afternoon by Christopher Harris, the coordinator of the school library system of the Genesee Valley BOCES. Mr. Harris has been working with the Verizon Foundation and the American Library Association (ALA) to look at how libraries can embrace games as a part of their collections.
Some libraries, Harris told us, are loaning a variety of games. While there is concern that the public may have a problem loaning games such as Grand Theft Auto (GTA), there are many tabletop and video games they're OK lending to patrons.
Harris told us that, according to a study done in 2006/2007, about 20% of libraries are loaning games. About 44% of libraries have some kind of formal gaming program, which may or may not include loaning games. 10% loan the more traditional games like Monopoly and Risk. 8% loan PC games. 4% loan puzzles. About 2% loan puzzles. And that was in 2006. Harris thinks the numbers will be higher in 2008.
One thing libraries worry about is what they can do if pieces turn up missing. Harris reports that after a year of loaning games in his library system, this hasn't been an issue. In fact, game manufacturers have been willing to work with libraries to provide spare pieces and other resources. It's typical for libraries to loan games for about a week, limiting patrons to 1-2 games at a time, with $1/day late fees, and respect to the games' ratings to ensure that younger library patrons don't access the more adult titles.
Harris encouraged libraries to, in essence, get their feet wet in gaming by loaning video game strategy guides as a starting point. They can also include game-related books like the Dungeons and Dragons books in their collections, too. If they're able to find retailers or web stores willing to accept purchase orders, they can include game titles like Settlers of Catan and others.
Harris mentioned that there are resources online for libraries that want to consider including games in their collections. For example, the site gaming.ala.org is a good starting point. Library patrons may discover what games are available at local libraries and those which are available for inter-library loan at worldcat.org.
If you're a librarian looking to include games in your library's collection, you might want to check out the links above.
