Inspired by the successes of Santa Monica PL and, of course, the Ann Arbor District Library, MLS is collaborating with the Thomas Ford Memorial Library (one of our members) to submit a LSTA grant to bring gaming to our libraries. Aaron and I have been talking through the idea since the current round of grants was first announced, and now we’re moving on putting together the pieces. We both believe strongly in gaming as a draw for t(w)eens in libraries, and we both recognize the impact gaming is beginning to have on our culture and society, which truly is only just beginning. Plus, the introduction to gaming culture should help librarians better understand patrons from this type of group and where they’re coming from.

Our plan is to submit a grant to put together a gaming “package,” much like the one Erin Helmrich and Eli Neiburger are going to show off at our May 26 Tech Summit (just 3 seats left!), except that ours will be a traveling road show. We want to get a number of MLS libraries to commit to the idea of gaming tournaments using the traveling road show. MLS will coordinate scheduling the equipment and can house it when not in use, but participating libraries would hold their own tournaments in their own buildings for their own patrons. The winner from each library would then go on to a championship tournament with bigger prizes at stake. The whole thing would be ongoing, with the championship possibly being an annual event. Imagine being crowned master chief of Chicago’s south and west suburbs! (Not that we’ll be using Halo as one of the games, but you get the idea….)

Since we’re just starting to put together the details, we have some questions we’d like to ask of those libraries that are already doing gaming tournaments. Of course, we plan to corner Erin and Eli when they’re here in two weeks, but for others, we’d really appreciate your feedback. Our inclination is to get [what will then be] new XBOX 360s for the coolness and current factors, which means we’re dependent on the games initially available for the system. We’re debating if we need to also get a second, more established platform, and which games would be the biggest hits with kids without setting off alarms for parents. (At home, we’re pretty strict about what Brent can and can’t play, so I’m very sensitive to this issue in a library setting.)

I guess our big question is if you could dream big, what would you dream? And if you’re at a MLS library, do you want to participate in the grant? We’ll be discussing this in more detail with MLS attendees after each session on the 26th, but feel free to contact me or Aaron with questions or responses! And watch Aaron’s blog, because he’ll be posting more on this topic.

Update: Here's Aaron's first post about the grant, in which he explains the significance of the XBOX 360.