Posted by Jami Schwarzwalder
Teens and Technology
Eli Neiberger
Why games are a good fit
84% of kids 12-17 are Internet users
Of these users:
75% are using IM
81% are playing games
Its not just about gamers. It’s common cultural currencies.
From 2000 to 2004 the number of teens playing games jumped from 66% to 81%
Its an $11 billion business worldwide
Fundamental part of media appetite
Video games are older than video cassettes
Try to have something for everyone
It reaches boys, 95% of teenage boys play video games
Only 12% of games sold in 2005 were rated M
There are a lot of adult books (of dubious value) on public library shelves as well
ESRB ratings are a great standard
Sometime in Mesopotamia a librarian said “this is a library not a place for paper”
Look at the garbage on our shelves
Libraries are in the content business
Games are content too.
We need to meet the recreational needs.
If we stake our business on recreational reading we may miss generations of users
Games are literacy activities.
Its important to not think of video games a mentally castling activity.
Having a video game event at your library, it takes something someone does alone at home, and turns it into a social event.
This is not outside of a core services. Do we consider story time as a loss leader?
Parents do not complain. Resistance is internal.
Outstanding way to become a focus of the teens enthusiasm.
A great way to promote library materials, but don’t hand out bibliographies. Just have the books on the table and displays.
A way to say we are about social events. Offer a non commercial space.
Seen sportsmanship like he has never seen before.
Audience: Do you have behavior issues?
It’s a library it should be loud. With a tournament you have a build in equality so there isn’t as many issues. When you have these events you develop a relationship with the teens, so when you have issues you can just go talk to the person, and say “You need to calm down or I’ll have to ask you to leave” which works.
You don’t have to buy anything. A tradition is that at gaming events gamers bring their own equipment. You just need a projector.
If you buy the equipment you can have partnerships, but this will be used by more people than the Books in Print catalog. You can use old TVs , if you have 8 it allows the teens to each have them on their own TV, so that they are completely immersed.
AADL-GT run a tournament with Mario Kart and Super Smash Brothers.
Email Eli if you want a copy of the DVD he made about the first drama, that captures the excitement, the drama, interviews with the kids, and color commentary. eli@aadl.org
ulo.tricho.us/
justlikestorytime.com
Entire prize budget came from friends.
Matt Gullett
This generation are producers. For more information read RenGen
We can be more than just a collection.
Place people can develop social interactions and people can create things
Beth Gallaway
The Search Institute came up with 40 developmental needs of young adults (gaming builds developmental assets)
Teen Developmental Needs include the need to be physically active, they need to be social.
Teach ethical issues via gaming.
There are elements of story in games. If you can get kids talking about the movies, tv shows, or video games, you can get them to tell you about what they enjoy about the media.
Let them play with tools and see how to use it. Then ask how it went, and give them hints and tips. Meet them in their space.
Gamers are technology enthusiastic.
Keep up with the gaming industry.
Try some games.
Treat it like story time, and make it an event for all ages.
Beth’s Handouts:
http://home.comcast.net/~egallaway/ala
A lot of good stuff here! I’m going to try to have a gaming night for my TAB group very soon. For anyone that is interested in gaming in libraries (or really anyone who is interested in pop culture/gaming culture) I would recommend the book “Everything Bad is Good for You” by Steven Johnson. I just finished it recently and I loved it.
Link is http://home.comcast.net/~egallaway/ala/