8Bit Contributor Dianna Leighton

Every so often, I get the question: “You have a Wii in the Children’s Reading Room?”

At first, I thought that this was addressing the library’s space needs and my answer would tend to focus on our upcoming expansion project. But, that stubborn crooked eyebrow would remain and I would soon realize that we’re really dealing with The Question: “Why do you have video games in the library?”

My imaginative Animal Crossing-loving side (and possible indication of dissociative identity disorder) wonders if I should go all Pelly or Phyllis on this one (ed. note: I have 99 game design reasons for having a library in Animal Crossing, if you’d ever like to hear them). I try to stick with Pelly, but it’s tricky business at times. Hand-eye coordination? Slightly redundant to talk about in Northern Maine: the land of potato harvesters, mechanized lumber equipment, and year-round power sports.  Drawing in reluctant readers? Downplays the literacy skills gained through gaming and just…sounds…sketchy…

When I first started at Turner Memorial Library 1.5 years ago, a public Wii was already being offered to patrons. 15.2% of folks in Aroostook County live below the poverty line and Presque Isle’s median household income tends to look a bit like a typo at $29,325, so I theorized that offering video game programming might provide young patrons access that they couldn’t receive at home.

I was half-right. A number of young patrons quickly pointed out that they had a Wii or other gaming console at home, sometimes multiples of the same system (“I have an Xbox 360 and my dad has an Xbox 360.”) Simply having a Wii available didn’t necessarily mean that anyone wanted to use it. And…wait a minute…why does Dad have his own Xbox 360?

Flashback. Growing up in rural Louisiana with a NES, SNES, and GameBoy was a pretty single-player experience. Sure, there was Michael on bus 4-N in Natalbany who had that super-sweet Mario Brothers lunchbox…but a playdate always failed to materialize. So while, sure, I got the hand-eye coordination, the perseverance, the pattern recognition skills, the increased cognitive function…I also developed the horrible phrase, “Leave me alone…I’m playing video games!”

Social access.

I started with special game days focused on social games like Mario Kart Wii. Researched best practices. Made wild hand gestures at every patron that came near me, “Did you seeeee? We have a Wiiiiii?” And I set up the Kumbaya rule instead of firm time limits: “You [two random patrons] can play together now, or you can wait a half-hour until this player finishes and then you have a half-hour to play.” Ultimately, most players would rather play with each other. A 10 year-old will patiently play Lego Star Wars with a 5 year-old giving pointers along the way. A tween from the homeless shelter might finally beat the watery horrors of New Super Mario Bros. Wii World 4 with the help of a player with autism. Two sisters in a perpetual state of conflict manage to find giggly common ground picking noses in Wario Ware Smooth Moves.

Of course, this common ground is also found through intergenerational game play. Sure, I keep a special place in my heart for the grammy and granddaughter who like to work on their Miis together and then completely annihilate each other in Mario Kart, but there’s just something about Endless Ocean. One evening, I quietly watched as a young mother and son shared reading duties as they tackled missions and identified sea life. It doesn’t hurt that the game neatly fell into this year’s Collaborative Summer Reading Program theme of ‘Make a Splash’ and that both patrons left with an armful of books on fish and whales.

Games do not necessarily have to cancel out other learning/entertainment/storytelling formats.  As a youth librarian, it’s always critical to respect the values of the families that I work with, but I can still find a way to advocate the games I love and integrate them into my community. As games researcher Jane McGonigal pointed out in her 2010 TED talk:

“There is a lot of interesting research that shows that we like people better after we play a game with them, even if they’ve beaten us badly. And the reason if, it takes a lot of trust to play a game with someone. We trust that they will spend their time with us, that they will play by the same rules, value the same goal, they’ll stay with the game until it’s over.”

True ‘nuff.

Some things to point out:

1. We offer video game programming along with board/card game programming for kids, teens, and adults. Board/card games tend to be most popular during the winter and school year. The library hosts clubs for Bakugan and Yu-Gi-Oh matches (started and facilitated by library patrons), which are both quite popular. The library also hosts quarterly USCF-rated chess tournaments. I find that the social benefits of offering board/card games to our patrons are similar to video games. For this year’s National Gaming Day, I’ll be offering a free workshop for adults on using, playing, and troubleshooting the Wii to promote intergenerational game play.
2. I keep Wii games and Wiimotes close to my desk. Patrons request to use the Wii and I usually help get things started. Young patrons usually take responsibility for returning the games/controllers to the desk.
3. Although vibrant, our community/patronage is certainly small compared to some other libraries offering video games. You may find that a Kumbaya system doesn’t work well and opt for firmer time limits. Also, after working in an adult crisis stabilization unit and being part of a blended family, I feel pretty comfortable resolving conflicts. If that’s not your thing…go with firmer time limits.
4. Someone will eventually throw a Wiimote. It’s infrequent, but, yes, embrace the silicone sleeve.

Dianna Leighton is Youth Librarian at the Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library in Presque Isle, Maine. Her favorite game is Monkey Puncher for Game Boy Color, which usually makes her laugh inappropriately.