Study: Librarians OK with gaming - Entertainment

Study: Librarians OK with gaming

Locally, they report mixed holdings in the gaming category

Tuesday, Apr 22, 2008 - 12:06 AM

Article Tools
Email a Friend Reader Reaction RSS digg it	Printer Friendly Mobile Alerts Sphere IT Save This Page

By JANN MALONE

TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Here's good news -- and, possibly, good ammunition -- for fans of video games:

Librarians vote in their favor.

"Gaming, whether it uses a console or a board, tends to teach literacy," said Tom Shepley, publications and promotions manager for the Chesterfield County Public Library system.

Sure, games are fun, but they also offer "an exposure to strategy and planning -- important critical thinking skills," he said.

Librarians around the country agree. More than 75 percent of U.S. public libraries support gaming, including card games and online activities, according to a study released last week.

That shows that librarians are paying attention to their customers, American Library Association President Loriene Roy said.

Librarians also see games as a way to get teens into the building. Most of them, Roy told The Associated Press, believe that gaming fits an overall strategy to increase teen involvement. She noted a nationwide trend of libraries forming teen advisory boards, devoting more space to teen centers and allowing teens to help with the design.

"We find that a lot of teens who come to the library to use games end up coming back to the library to use other services," she said.

A survey of area libraries found mixed holdings in the gaming category.

Powhatan, Cumberland, Caroline and New Kent libraries do not have video games for check out.

The Chesterfield library has no console games for check out but does own a few hundred computer games.

"They have been very, very popular," Shepley said.

The Henrico library plans to offer gaming in its computer labs but doesn't carry video games for check out.

"Our issue there is which boxes are going to be here today and gone tomorrow," said Jerry McKenna, director of the county's library system. "We've concentrated more on materials, books, electronic databases and services."

Henrico's libraries use Guitar Hero and other games in programs for young adults. "Each area library has a teen advisory board," McKenna said. "It's a popular service with teen groups."

In Richmond, the library does not have video games in its collection and rarely gets requests for them, said the collections department's Beth Morelli. The online game revolution seemed to kill demand for games to check out.

In about a month, Morelli said, the Ginter Park branch will begin offering in-house access to some basic games on three computers. That will be financed by a neighborhood grant.

The Pamunkey Regional Library system, which serves Goochland, Hanover, King and Queen and King William counties, does not have videos to check out. It does have a PlayStation 2 that's used for Teen Nights every few months.

The library in Amelia County started its collection about five years ago and now owns about 30 computer games, including one Wii game. They're not the most popular materials, library assistant Crystal Condrey said, but "they get checked out quite a bit."

The Appomattox Regional Library System, serving Hopewell, Prince George and Dinwiddie, has offered video games for about six months. Library members may check them out for a week.

Already, video games are more popular than DVDs there, said Scott Firestine, director of the Appomattox system.

That so many libraries are embracing video games makes sense to Chesterfield's Shepley: "Anything that becomes popular in culture ends up being reflected in the library,"

Contact Jann Malone (804) 649-6820 or jmalone@timesdispatch.com.

Staff writers Katherine Calos, Jamie Ruff, Lawrence Latané III, Janet Caggiano, Melodie Martin, Luz Lazo and Zachary Reid and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Reader Reaction:

Reaction Page: