Monthly Archives: October 2017

Retro Gaming Program Ideas @ Games In Libraries

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“Retro Gaming” is big business in 2017, fueling everything from the indie development boom to Nintendo’s popular line of Classic Edition microconsoles. Many libraries have begun to tap into this fandom, and some are even offering game programming centered around retro games.

Thomas Vose has also noticed this trend, and he recently put together a how-to guide on retro gaming for the ALA’s Games In Libraries blog:

Looking to go old-school? Want to try something different in the world of video gaming as a program? There are a lot of great retro programs that can be put together to offer something different for your patrons and to reach new audiences by appealing to nostalgia, and recent developments in the world of gaming have made those retro programs more accessible.

Some of Vose’s programming ideas include high score competitions, Let’s Play broadcasts, retro tournaments, speedrunning challenges, and retro gaming crafts.

Participating in International Games Week 2017 @ Programming Librarian

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International Games Week 2017 is fast approaching, and a new post from Colleen Ellithorpe, the Teen Services Librarian at Saratoga Springs Public Library on Programming Librarian discusses some of the benefits of participating in the event and offers up a few resources to help get you started:

Whether you’ve always been a proponent of gaming in the library or were late to the party, games have found their place in adult and teen programming. According to ALA’s Games and Gaming Round Table’s (GameRT) 2016 International Games Week (IGW) report, about 82 percent of public libraries participating already had a collection of either tabletop or console games. Some libraries loan games while others focus on game events. As technology becomes less expensive and community needs shift, we will certainly see continued growth of gaming events in public libraries.

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If your library currently doesn’t have game programming, IGW is a great time to introduce the idea, experiment with games temporarily and gauge the response!

International Games Week 2007 will take place from October 20th through November 4th.