"Discover how to create something, when you have nothing. Learn how you can deliver free and inexpensive gaming experiences.."

~Beth Gallaway
Information Goddess Consulting
Hampton, NH

I'm Beth Gallaway, Library Consultant and Trainer, and I'm here to welcome you and provide orientation to the Librarian's Guide to Gaming: An Online Toolkit. Gaming @ your library is an initiative of the American Library Association. This initiative is generously funded by the Verizon Foundation.

Now, when we're talking about gaming in libraries, we're talking about all kinds of gaming:

• Classic traditional board games, like Scrabble or Monopoly
• Collectible card games like Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon
  
• Modern board games like Apples to Apples or Settlers of Catan, or
  
• Even old school tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons
  
• We're talking about videogames too, played on handheld devices like the Nintendo DS, on consoles like the Playstation 3, or even on the
• Internet computers at your library.

You might want to start with the history section: That Was Then, This is Now. Did you know that gaming in libraries is a tradition over 150 years old? Maybe you're looking for a snapshot of what gaming in libraries looks like today. Maybe you need some current research or articles to make your case. All of that can be found in the history section.

We've assembled a list of tools and resources: all the things you need to create a successful gaming experience @ your library, from advocating to evaluating. Our gaming readiness checklist has just what you need to get started, including some tips from the expert panel. Making the case is all about advocating for gaming @ your library. We've compiled a list of frequently asked questions, so that you can answer challenges from critics, and we've included some model staff trainings so that you can inform and educate your stakeholders about what gaming in libraries really is. We've gone ahead and connected gaming to literacy, with an explanation of the various kinds of literacy, and how games relate.

We know that lack of time, staff, space and money are major deterrents to any new project. Discover how to create something, when you have nothing. Learn how you can deliver free and inexpensive gaming experiences. Get a ballpark idea of what it all costs, and discover funding resources to pay for it all. Not sure if it's ok to circulate games or run tournaments? Get the lowdown in our legal section!

Why reinvent the wheel? Download, edit and print our collection of PR materials and other handouts: everything from registration forms to scoring sheets. Or, just get some inspiration from our collection of news articles, posters and blogs.

No library services should happen within a vaccum. Successful planning always includes assessment. Test drive our collection of surveys to help you evaluate gaming @ your library, improve the experience, and tell your story, to really measure impact.

We have an extensive bibliography of resources to provide support for making your case and some background information about gaming in libraries. The annotated list includes books, articles, websites, even podcasts and conference presentations, all intended to inform and educate.

Finally, we've made our Expert Panel available at your fingertips! These are are leaders in the library gaming field, and now, they are just an email or phone call away.

The next section of the Librarians Guide to Gaming: An Online Toolkit is Best Practices.

Whether you are from a public, school, academic or even a special library, serving a rural, urban, or suburban population, working with children, teens, adults, or all age groups in a small, medium or large size facility, we've got a model gaming experience for you.

We've provided easy, low-cost replicable models that you can borrow and modify, or execute step-by-step. We've also got inspirational, next step models that are larger in size, scope and cost. These include programs that go beyond traditional gaming experiences: programs that stretch over weeks, like gaming festivals, national videogame tournaments and game design classes, as well as integrating gaming into curriculum and large scale gaming initiatives.

If you are having any trouble locating the resources within this website, check out the sitemap. It's basically a table of contents for the site, with link to each unique page. We've also tagged all of the best practices, so it's really easy to search by library type, size, population served, and type of experience.

Finally, a contact link is provided so we can hear about your success stories and get feedback on this toolkit. We can't wait to add YOUR best practices in providing a gaming experience @ your library, so submit your model program, using the template provided.

Good luck, and game on!