About « National Gaming Day @ your library

About

National Gaming Day @ your library is an initiative of the American Library Association to reconnect communities through their libraries around the educational, recreational, and social value of all types of games.

In the 21st century, libraries are about much more than books. On Saturday, November 12, 2011, more than one thousand libraries throughout the country will showcase gaming programs and services in support of NGD11. This year marks our fourth annual event. In 2010, more than 26,000 people played games at more than 1,800 libraries across the U.S. and in other countries.

Skokie Public Library, National Gaming Day 2009

Gaming of all types at the library encourages young patrons to interact with a diverse group of peers, share their expertise with others (including adults), and develop new strategies for gaming and learning. Plus, it's a way for traditionally underserved groups to have fun in the library and interact with other members of the community. Gaming Day is a great opportunity for families to get out of the house and play together in the one community institution that welcomes everyone.

Monterey Public Library, National Gaming Day 2009

Each year, ALA coordinates two parallel activities for National Gaming Day. The first is a national video game tournament. We'll be using the Ann Arbor District Library's GT software again for this year's tournaments. Participating libraries organize a local tournament during which their players compete against players at other libraries for national bragging rights!

In addition, ALA partners with donors to provide free copies of board and tabletop games for libraries across the country. Past donors have included companies such as AlphaBound, Hasbro, North Star Games, and Wizards of the Coast. This year FamilyAndPartyGames.com and DEMCO are official sponsors supporting libraries participating in NGD11. Please contact us if your company is interested sponsoring National Gaming Day or donating games, prizes, or snacks to local libraries.

Libraries that want to participate in this year's event need to register online in order to participate in the national video game tournaments, receive free donations, and appear on the international map of participating locations.

Comments (4) Trackbacks (3) ( subscribe to comments on this post )

Mary Beth Fine
August 29th, 2011 - 10:48

Our library isn’t open on Saturday, but I would like to participate on Wednesday as a pre National Gaming Day event. Would that be okay?

( REPLY )
admin
August 29th, 2011 - 10:57

Mary Beth, this is fine, as long as you tie your event to National Gaming Day and fill out the evaluation survey to report your participation numbers. Thanks for joining in!

Jenny

( REPLY )
Jan E.V.W. Hanson
November 10th, 2011 - 14:21

We didn’t register in time for the national competition; we can’t do Mario Bros. anyway, but we could reserve 2 of our Internet computers for Frogger. Is there anyway to join in the competition at this point?

Jan

( REPLY )
robertlee
March 22nd, 2012 - 06:35

Thanks for giving your ideas. I’d also like to mention that video games have been at any time evolving. Today’s technology and improvements have assisted create genuine and active games. These kinds of entertainment video games were not actually sensible when the real concept was first being attempted. Just like other areas of technological innovation, video games also have had to grow as a result of many ages. This is testimony towards fast continuing development of video games.
I have observed in the world nowadays, video games are the latest trend with children of all ages. Occasionally it may be difficult to drag your family away from the games. If you want the very best of both worlds, there are lots of educational gaming activities for kids. Interesting post.
A further issue is that video games are generally serious in nature with the most important focus on studying rather than fun. Although, there is an entertainment aspect to keep children engaged, just about every game is often designed to develop a specific group of skills or course, such as math or science. Thanks for your post.
I have realized some important things through your blog post. One other subject I would like to say is that there are many games available and which are designed especially for preschool age kids. They incorporate pattern acknowledgement, colors, pets, and models. These usually focus on familiarization rather than memorization. This makes children and kids engaged without having the experience like they are studying. Thanks
One more issue is really that video gaming has become one of the all-time most significant forms of entertainment for people of every age group. Kids engage in video games, plus adults do, too. The actual XBox 360 is amongst the favorite gaming systems for folks who love to have a lot of activities available to them, in addition to who like to play live with others all over the world. Thanks for sharing your opinions.

( REPLY )