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History of Games in Libraries

Public libraries have always served as a safe place for people to gather and socialize publicly. Games have long been a fun, casual way for people to spend time together and an especially important way for people to build new and existing social connections. The oldest games in libraries date back to board games like chess, while modern libraries have expanded to having collections of video games available (Nicholson, 2013). Historically, when they were first created, there was some division amongst librarians over whether or not libraries should include anything as recreational as games as they were supposedly places of information and learning only (Nicholson, 2013). However, the oldest still running chess club in the United States is actually part of the Mechanics Institute Library in San Francisco, which was founded in 1854 (Hilbert, 2003). It is important to note that at this time, academia and formal higher education were largely restricted to white men only, and thus the types of games in libraries were fairly restricted to things aimed at adult men. As time went on, particularly during the Great Depression, the concept of toy libraries was introduced for children as recreation for children was very difficult to come by at the time (Nicholson, 2013). Puzzles and puzzle contests also became popular at that time (Nicholson, 2013).

Separate children’s sections in libraries have been around since the 1890’s (Brookline Library History Committee, 2006). In conjunction with this, in the last several decades school libraries have moved to cater more towards children having access to non-book activities like board games and puzzles. These not only have the value of giving school children another avenue to bond socially with one another, but they are also very valuable as a tool to help teach them how to use a library. While this was not common place until the later 20th century, it has certainly become and important part of helping children to engage with and understand how to use their schools libraries (Nicholson, 2013).

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Current State of Games and Gaming in Libraries

Modernly, gaming in libraries has come to include not only board games and card games, but also digital content like video games. Access to computers in general also provides people the opportunity to come in and play games that may only be available online, which in the authors experiences can be observed at just about any library that has an internet connection and computers. Many school and public libraries now also host things like lego building clubs, Pokemon Trading Card Game clubs, and video game clubs for younger patrons as part of after school programming. There is evidence that hosting game and gaming related clubs increases youth attendance at libraries which in turn helps promote them as safe community gathering places for all ages (Nicholson, 2010).

Collections as physical media has always been the standard for libraries, however recently the gaming industry has unfortunately joined other media types in the move towards releasing their media in digital format only. This is unfortunate because it does not truly allow for actual ownership of a copy of the game, it only grants the purchaser a limited license to use it digitally for personal use, which presents a new set of unique challenges for librarians and those looking to build game collections. While libraries have for some time now been licensing e-books and digital copies of movies for patrons to borrow through apps like Libby and Kanopy, at this time of writing, there is no system in place to allow libraries to license games that are digital only to allow patrons to borrow and the continued usage of so-called “Digital Rights Management” (more commonly known as “DRM”) software will likely keep it extremely difficult for libraries to build digitally released games into their collections (Post, Reed, Lanham, 2024).

All this being said, it has become widely accepted now that games of all types, including video games, provide many and useful social and learning opportunities in libraries and their inclusion has become a staple.

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Resources: Support and Development

The idea of a gaming librarian is still very new and thus professional support and development is still very limited. As of the time of writing, currently the best formal professional opportunity would be the ALA Gaming Roundtable.

Much of the community around gaming archiving and in libraries can either be found on individual bases or online. Websites like The Video Game Librarian provide their own research on resources and programming, although there has not been much recently besides the ALA's Round table.

Many people who have moved to being gaming librarians have done so within their own libraries. For instance, here is a blog post from a librarian Joy DuBose at Mississippi State University detailing how she became their first and only Gaming Librarian.

Another resource that librarians who want to specialize in gaming collections may find useful and informative is The Video Game History Foundation, which has very up to date information on the current gaming landscape as well as a fantastic brick-and-mortar library and a huge digital archive that contains just about anything you could think of.

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Education, Skills, and Qualifications for a Gaming Librarian

Anyone heading into a position like a gaming librarian should ideally have a passion for all types of games: video games (console and PC), table top games (think Warhammer 40k, Settlers of Catan, Dungeons & Dragons), board games, card games, games new and old, and anything that may come on the horizon of gaming. They would also be someone who keeps up with the current state of gaming via events such as E3, SXSW, The Game Awards, web and print publications about new game releases and tech advances. The position certainly requires the librarian to be tech savvy.

A Gaming Librarian will also be ready to work with people of all ages and backgrounds. Gaming is for people of all ages, ethnicities, genders, income levels, ability levels, orientations, and education levels. Gaming can and should always be a fully inclusive and equitable space for anyone who wants to participate, so it is very important that a Gaming Librarian be someone who strongly values equity, access, and inclusion.

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The Importance of Diversity, Access, Belonging, Inclusion, Equity, and Community in Gaming & The Library

Libraries strive for inclusivity and to create safe places for anyone in the community they serve to spend time and gather. A Gaming Librarian will be no different in their mission to provide an accepting community that everyone feels safe to attend and participate in. Gaming of all types has always had a problem with being an incredibly white male dominated space, and video games in particular have a major issue still with being extremely cishetnormative and exclusionary of queer and trans people, people of color, deaf/hard of hearing (HOH) people, and blind/low vision people. It is critical that a Gaming Librarian be conscious of including any and everyone who wants to come and play.

While the above listed issues very much do persist into the present day in video games, there have been some steps taken to create game modes that are accessible to more people. Subtitles for spoken dialogue in games is an absolute industry standard now, and while this is helpful, a vast majority of games do not include full accurate closed captioning and rely on audio cues to prompt the player to take specific actions during game play. Additionally, very few offer game modes where you can turn on visual prompts to replace that for deaf/HOH players. That said, there have been some small steps taken in some games to create dedicated modes for people with visual or hearing impairments (author can personally attest to seeing both of these features in the game Resident Evil 4 (2023), i. e. fully dedicated game modes for players with visual and/or hearing impairments).

Additionally, table top RPG's like Warhammer 40k would require a lot of work to be inclusive as well as they rely on the location of playing pieces on the table (which could present a challenge for blind/low vision players) and rely on verbal communication, which is difficult for nonspeaking people as well as deaf/HOH people.

As also mentioned above, gaming spaces (of all kinds) have always had an issue with being very exclusionary towards women and queer people as well as disabled people. It is extremely important that a gaming librarian be conscious of gender bias in games and curate their collection accordingly. Everything from board games to card games to video games should be considered carefully through the lens of diversity and inclusion.

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Course Recommendations

LIS 4050 - Library and Information Technologies - understanding the technology already present in libraries is an important building block to being able to curate a game collection, as a lot of gaming has become digital/digitized.

LIS 4005 - Privilege and Equity - Both of these are a big deal in the world of gaming and would be very beneficial for a Gaming Librarian to be conscious of

LIS 4520 - Young Adult Materials & Services - While gaming is for all ages, a lot of young people use it as a convenient way to socialize after school and as such it would be important for a Gaming Librarian to have a solid education in the types of services best suited to young adults.

LIS 4810 - Digital Libraries - As a lot of gaming becomes digitized/digital, it is important that a Gaming Librarian have a strong understanding of digital libraries especially as we encounter the hurdles of the gaming industry trying to do away with selling actual copies of game and only selling players licenses that cannot be shared.

LIS 4820 - Digitization - Similar to the above, it is important that a gaming librarian be well versed in the subject of digitization as games move to digital formats. This includes not only original video games but also games that were originally board games being adapted into computer or console games.

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Gaming Librarianship is a very new, emerging field that presents an exciting frontier for helping to build up opportunities for people from all backgrounds to have access to another method of both learning and entertainment in their library. Game services help provide not only a new avenue for learning, but also an excellent way for people to socialize and team build, both of which are incredibly important skills (and services) for people of any demographic to have. Providing a gaming collection will help any library to serve even more members of their community as well as encourage young people to come and learn more about how to use their local library. It directly supports one of the original missions of libraries: to function as a safe, free gathering space for any and all members of a community (American Library Association, 2021).

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Bibliography

American Library Association. (2021, June 29). ALA code of ethics. American Library Association. https://www.ala.org/tools/ethics

Hilbert, J. (2003). History of the Chess Room [Review of History of the Chess Room]. Mechanics Institute. https://www.milibrary.org/chess-room-history

Brookline Library History Committee (2006). Mission & History - Public Library of Brookline. (2021, March 30). Public Library of Brookline. https://www.brooklinelibrary.org/about/history/

Nicholson, S. (2010). Everyone plays at the library: creating great gaming experiences for all ages. Information Today. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10492818

Nicholson, S. (2013). Playing in the Past: A History of Games, Toys, and Puzzles in North American Libraries. The Library Quarterly (Chicago), 83(4), 341–361. https://doi.org/10.1086/671913

Post, C., Reed, J., & Lanham, C. (2024). Considerations and challenges for collecting digital games in academic libraries. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 50(5), 102931-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2024.102931

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