International Games Day @ your library Game on November 16, 2013!

About

International Games Day @ your library is an initiative run by volunteers from around the world and auspiced by the American Library Association to reconnect communities through their libraries around the educational, recreational, and social value of all types of games. It is completely free to participate! You can register here and there is a free press kit with press releases and posters here.

In the 21st century, libraries are about much more than books. On Saturday, November 16, 2013, more than one thousand libraries around the world will showcase gaming programs and services in support of IGD13. This year marks our 6th annual event. Our peak numbers so far were in 2011, when more than 27,700 people played games at more than 1,400 libraries across the U.S. and in other countries; in 2012, many venues were affected by early voting for the US federal elections and the storms on the east coast of the U.S., but we still had nearly 20,000 participants, and reached libraries on every inhabited continent.

Gaming Day-4066
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. Games Day is a great opportunity for families to get out of the house and play together in the one community institution that welcomes everyone.

Games Fair
Monterey Public Library, National Gaming Day 2009

Each year, ALA coordinates two parallel activities for International Games 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!

The second is the Global Gossip Game, which takes the familiar game of whispering secrets from one player to another and laughing at how the phrase changes, and has it travelling from library to library around the world. Last year we started in Melbourne, Australia, traveled through 7 languages on all 6 inhabited continents, and finished in Homer, Alaska 26 hours later, with the phrase changing from "Life must be lived as play" to "He bites snails"! (You can view the full report here.) This year, we've already got an Antarctic library playing - so we're on track CONFIRMED for all 7 continents!

In addition, ALA partners with donors to provide free copies of games for libraries across the country. Our sponsors for 2013 are USAopoly, Konami, Heartland Products, and GameTable Online. Past donors have included companies such as AlphaBoundFamilyAndPartyGames.com, HasbroNorth Star Games,  RavensburgerPopCap, and Wizards of the Coast. Please contact us if your company is interested in sponsoring International Games 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 or Global Gossip Game, receive free donations, and appear on the international map of participating locations.

Help spread the word!
Comments (10) Trackbacks (7)
  1. 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?

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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.
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  5. Is there a specific game being highlighted this year? A few years ago, it was Wits and Wagers and my family still enjoy this game.

  6. Is there a set number of hours for this event or is it up to each library? I have a few questions on how the tournament portion of this will work.

  7. At my last library a few years ago, and what I’m planning to do this year at my new library, I’ve held “National Gaming Day” events with board, card, and Wii gaming. Is it okay to do that without being tied in to the online portions? [do not have the capability to do the online]


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