Posts tagged Collaboration

Hey all,

Justin has really been killing it on here with his great posts on gaming programs, and I felt inspired to share an experience of my own.

In 2005, in my previous job as head of a public library children’s department, I had the opportunity to try out something that I suggest every public library at least try for a month, if not implement permanently. If you own a console, take out/open your TV, turn on the TV&console, and let your library users play the games all day. Whenever you are open.

A pretty diverse group, chillen at the Gaming Station

The concept is simple: you allow books to be read and checked out all day. You allow your computers to be used all day. Same goes with other media; newspapers, magazines, etc… Your library spent a small but good amount of money on the console and the games, let your library users play with them! It doesn’t only have to be for programs. Similarly, open gaming doesn’t mean that you still won’t get a chance to run programs!

My experiences were very positive. I had multiple age groups constantly collaborating and sharing information in a way that is unique to the gaming medium. Users who would have in other circumstances had no reason to even speak to each other at the library are now sharing tips and becoming friends (oh, and hopefully talking trash on each other, :-p).

Open gaming also fosters a new way for libraries to include multiple age groups in activities. Public libraries traditionally segregate people based on age (“Children’s Room”, “Teen Room”, “Adult/Reference room”, in NJ we have a growing amount of libraries with “Senior Rooms” thanks to the work of Allen Kleiman et al.). I don’t think that there is anything wrong with age segregation in libraries; it HAS worked and CONTINUES to work for libraries. But there’s also nothing wrong with mixing everyone together, and in my experience with open gaming, this is THE BEST WAY to get every age group engaging / sharing information & experiences together.

In an open gaming situation (vs a set-times-for-gaming situation), I’ve found that parents/teens/seniors who otherwise wouldn’t  have picked up a game are now having fun “playing” with kids/teens/parents/grandparents/babies. It’s really an amazing, unique-to-libraries experience to see a two-year-old kid playing video games with their grandparent and an 8-year-old kid they’ve never met. Where else could you see that same 8-year-old become friends with a 15-year-old? Or a 20-something couple walk in the library for a book and end up sharing a really good time with a bunch of teenagers they’ve never met before? And in a school library situation, you’ll see teachers and students engaging in a way they’ve probably never engaged before, and students will build friendships with students they may have never even met before.

Libraries aren’t only about information, they are also about valuable human experiences, and gaming is the best of both worlds: a modern information media as well as an all-ages platform for fun  interaction.

You’ll notice I didn’t go over any “problems” you may run in to. It’s 2010 now and the idea of open gaming probably isn’t as “new” as it was in 2005, so I think it’ll probably be easier for you to try something like this in your library. There’s always 1,000,000 reasons not to do something; don’t let those reasons stop you from trying this. Let me know your experiences if you do this in your school / library!