"Don’t be discouraged by governmental purchasing processes."
~Dwight McInvaill,
Georgetown Public Library
Georgetown, SC
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Creating a Gaming Experience 
You don't need to have the newest console system or all the titles on our annotated games list to create an excellent gaming experience @ your library. Some libraries had great success with a retro games like Pac-Man and other arcade classics, and are expert panel all started with pilot projects at a few locations. What you do need is a committed staff (or volunteers), interested patrons, and a little bit of equipment or materials.
Start with free stuff
- Be creative!
- Network with your patrons to borrow equipment.
- Partner with your local electronics store, toy store, hobby shop, or board game group may host an event at your location.
- Offer a gaming event handheld or mobile device event, where each player brings his own item.
- Host a LAN party, where each person brings their own computer or laptop.
- Hold a computer gaming program in the computer lab.
- Offer old school Dungeons & Dragons! Find your library's Dungeon Master manual from a local public library, buy some dice at a hobby shop, and download everything you need from Wizards of the Coast.
Start with used equipment
- Purchase games at yard sales (check for all the pieces before you put them out!)
- Purchase used or refurbished consoles and games from game retailers or online auction sites (buy controllers new – they take a lot of abuse).
Start small
- Buy multiple copies of a few tabletop games and run instructional sessions with featured titles.
- Share equipment – buy one console for every four libraries and rotate each week.
- Partner with someone in the community – another library, a school, a church, an organization that serves your target demographic.
- Don’t feel like you need to have the newest system -- old school games have their own appeal. Teens enjoy board games from their childhood, and parents like to show their kids how hard Pac-Man really is.
Budgeting
For videogame equipment and materials, plan to spend a minimum of $250-500 on a console, $30-100 on controllers, and $25-60 on each new game. Don’t forget to budget for batteries or rechargers, extra extension cords, prizes, and refreshments.
For tabletop gaming materials, plan to spend $10-15 for card games, $15-70 for board games, and $35-50 for dice games, paper and pencils for tabletop games, prizes, and refreshments.
Detailed Equipment Cost List
Paying For it: Grant Resources
Vendors That Sell to Libraries
Sample Grant Budgets
Sample Collection Lists:
- Board Game Library, Genesee Valley BOCES (NY)
- Board Game List, Cornelius Branch, Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenberg County (NC)
- Videogames & Equipment, Carvers Bay Branch, Georgetown County Library (SC)
- Videogame List, John C. Fremont Library, (CO)
- Videogame List, Linden Branch, Columbus Metropolitan Library (OH)
- Videogame List, Epiphany Branch, New York Public Library (NY)
- Videogame List, New Albany Branch, Columbus Metropolitan Library (OH)
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