Games-based Library Services Nationwide Survey

Are you providing game based programs, services, and collections at your library? If so, read on for details about a nationwide survey of games-based Library Services from Chris Baker at Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and take the survey!!

Photo by Branden Skeli on Unsplash

 Hello, esteemed library colleagues!

After months of planning and thoughtful collaboration, the Wisconsin State Library Agency and the Washington State Library (in partnership with many others) are proud to officially kick off the first-ever nationwide surveying of Games-based Library Services – a key component of our National Games & Libraries Project (funded by an Institute of Museum and Library Services National Leadership Grant for Libraries).

Our comprehensive survey will result in a thorough and unprecedented “snapshot” of Games-based Library Services [GBLS] being offered nationwide throughout multitype libraries: public & school, academic, special, state libraries & consortia HQs, etc. Please help contribute to this invaluable research by filling out the survey yourselves and/or sharing it with your relevant library colleagues and networks!

Note: We ask that all libraries complete this survey (whether they offer GBLS or not). All contributed data will be useful, so share far and wide!

There are a few important notes we’d like to highlight before folks begin the survey:

• The survey takes about 15 minutes to complete. ⏱️
• To keep our data clean and useful, we ask that only one person per each library, branch, institution, etc. submit a response. If needed, please gather information from colleagues beforehand so your answers reflect your individual institution as a whole. ✅
• Before starting the survey, we’d ask you to have access to your library’s program attendance and Integrated Library System (ILS) collection data at-hand, as we are seeking certain relevant data points related to Games-based Library Services. 📈
• Please use your own discretion to choose responses to our questions that would best represent your location / institution (we understand that different libraries and library institutions throughout the country might use different names / terms state-by-state). 🎯
• Your responses are confidential. The only identifying information we collect is your institution’s ZIP Code, which will be used solely to help us understand geographic distribution and create a national heatmap of GBLS activity. 🔒
• Participation is voluntary and you may skip any question that allows skipping (note that many responses are mandatory). Provided participant contact information (if given) will be used to select gift card raffle winners. 🎉
• This project was made possible in part by generous funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services grant LG‑256639‑OLS‑24. 📚
• The National Games & Libraries Project [NGLP] is being co-sponsored by the ALA GameRT (the American Library Association’s Games & Gaming Round Table) and COSLA (the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies). 🎮

We anticipate the survey remaining open until mid-July. But… why wait!? Complete it ASAP to help us start building an early picture of nationwide Games-based Library Services!

If you have questions about the survey or the project, please contact Chris Baker (Games & Learning Consultant / Public Library Consultant; Wisconsin Dept. of Public Instruction) at Chris.Baker@dpi.wi.gov. 🙏 So – without further ado.... 

🎲 🕹️ NGLP Games-based Library Services Survey  🕹️  🎲

We want to thank everyone ahead of time for filling out the survey and sharing it with your colleagues and networks. We look forward to sharing the results of our survey with the nationwide library community this Fall!

Stay tuned -- and stay groovy, ✌️

~Chris Baker

 

Chris Baker (he/him/his) Public Library Consultant, Games & Learning Consultant | Bureau of Libraries Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction 201 W Washington Ave | Madison, WI | 53703 608-264-6709 |   dpi.wi.gov

Beyond the Bookshelf: Games in the Library Workshop

Wisconsin Valley Library Service invites you to join us for a free workshop about Games in Libraries on Friday, October 24, 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM! 

This WVLS Youth Services Workshop, at the Tomahawk Public Library, will explore the power of play in libraries, featuring video games with Chris Baker (DPI) and tabletop role-playing games with game designer Jon Spike. Discover practical strategies for building collections, creating engaging programs, and using games to support literacy, community, and creativity.  Morning snacks and lunch will be provided. 

Spots are limited. Don’t miss this chance to learn and play with fellow library staff! Registration is free and open until October 19. 

Image by Elle from Pixabay

Beyond the Bookshelf: Games in the Library

Discover the power of play in libraries! 

This workshop will begin with a tour to see how Tomahawk Public Library brought talk, read, sing, write, and play to life through their 2019/2020 WVLS Innovation and Collaboration Literacy Grant.

Next, DPI Public Library Consultant Chris Baker will take participants into the world of video games with his presentation Games are Not Optional: Addressing the Priority (and Gaps) of Game-Based Library Services. Baker will provide an overview of the current state of gaming in the U.S. Together, we'll tackle questions like "How popular is gaming in 2025?", and "Who 'are' gamers?"; additionally, we'll briefly explore the unique educational benefits that games offer. Most importantly, we'll discuss why these questions should matter to the modern librarian. Baker will also share how libraries can build strong gaming collections, design engaging programs, and connect with patrons of all ages. Learn practical strategies for integrating games into library services to boost literacy, community building, and creativity.

In the afternoon, game designer Jon Spike will introduce tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) in his presentation How Tabletop Games, Playful Learning, and Game Design Promote Literacy and Creation in the Library. Board games, card games, and role-playing games are experiencing a renaissance in pop culture - so how can we leverage them in the library space? In this session, we'll explore how games build skills through STEAM topics, literacy development, and much more! Prepare to engage in activities that you can turn around and use in your libraries tomorrow!

Throughout the day, we’ll highlight how games promote social-emotional growth, inspire STEAM learning, and create welcoming spaces for connection and storytelling.

Register Here

This workshop is worth 5 contact hours (including 3.5 technology hours).

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Agenda

·  9:00–9:15 a.m. Arrival / Networking

·  9:15–9:30 a.m. Welcome / Introductions

·  9:30–10:15 a.m. Tour

·  10:15–10:30 a.m. Break

·  10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m. Games Are Not Optional: Addressing the Priority (and Gaps) of Games-Based Library Services - Chris Baker, Public Library / Games & Learning Consultant, DPI

·  12:00–1:00 p.m. Lunch

·  1:00–3:00 p.m. How Tabletop Games, Playful Learning, and Game Design Promote Literacy and Creation in the Library - Jon Spike, PhD, CEO of GamestormEDU

·  3:00–3:30 p.m. Discussion / Wrap-Up

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Speaker Bios

Chris Baker
Chris Baker is a video game scholar and Public Library / Games & Learning Consultant with the Bureau of Libraries at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Before joining DPI, Chris worked as a Youth Services Librarian at the Spring Green Community Library, then as a Teen Services Librarian, Adult Services Librarian, and Technology Coordinator at the Portage Public Library.

Chris’s background also includes a robust career in professional theatre. He earned a BA in Theatre from UW-Parkside and a Masters in Fine Arts in Theatre Pedagogy from Virginia Commonwealth University, where his thesis examined video games, learning, and society. Chris also holds an MLIS from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

He specializes in games-based library services, project management, innovation, and collaboration. Chris currently serves as President-Elect of the American Library Association Games & Gaming Round Table.

Jon Spike
Jon Spike, PhD, is a former K–12 English teacher and technology integrator who now serves as the Coordinator of Instructional Technology and Integration Services at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater in the College of Education and Professional Studies. He earned his doctorate in Instructional Technology from Northern Illinois University, researching collaborative learning experience design in virtual reality.

Jon is the CEO of GamestormEDU, where he designs educational board and card games for schools, families, and organizations. His releases include Gamestormers (2023), a competitive storytelling game, and Doomscroll (2025), a social media literacy card game—both finalists in the Gee Learning Game Awards Tabletop Competition.

Jon has presented nationally at the International Society of Technology in Education Conference, the Future of Educational Technology Conference, and the North American Simulation and Gaming Association (NASAGA) Conference. He has received the Wisconsin Educational Media and Technology Association (WEMTA) Emerging Leader Award and the NASAGA Rising Star Award.

Teen Playground Program

In a recent Teen Librarian Toolbox post, Cindy Shutts who writes the Cindy Crushes Programming series (and she does crush it!), shared how she created a very popular program for her teens by making play the focus.

Cindy writes: "I had the idea of creating a teen playground in the library after years of seeing teens who often just wanted to roll on the floor. Why not let them use the library as a playground? So for an hour and a half after library hours one day, we made it happen. I did this program after hours so as not to disturb library patrons and to give this the real playground feeling."

To read her clever ideas and tips for this program, please stop here. [Cindy Crushes Programming: Teen Playground. Shutts, Cindy. SLJ Teen Library Toolbox blog. August 21, 2024.]

Tuesday Tips - Games for Youth

Sam Jones is the Youth Services Librarian at the Beaver Dam Public Library. She shares tips to make your job easier in her Tuesday posts.

This week, I got an email from the Wisconsin Early Childhood Collaborating Partners email list that shared a great resource I wanted to make sure you all were aware of. It is Brain-Building Through Play: Activities for Infants, Toddlers, and Children from Harvard's Center on the Developing Child. It briefly mentions the importance of play and links to other articles in case the reader wants more information. 

The great thing about this resource is that it has pdfs with different types of games one can play with certain age groups. I like being able to look at these and be reminded of simple, fun, age-appropriate games. The pdfs also have explanations on why the game is good for that age group and give tips on how to play the game with the child. 

I really enjoyed that they broke down the ages. Instead of just having infants, toddlers, and children, they had 6 months, 9 months, etc. This is also a great resource for people caring for children so that they can have some games to play with a child(ren). Personally, I'm a big fan of infographics, so I'm super happy I was sent this. 

Programs Inside the Box, Vol. 2: Giant Angry Birds

Looking for a fun STEM program for those warm weather months?  

Why not give Giant Angry Birds a shot? *ba-dum-tssss*

What you'll need:

• Boxes, boxes, and more boxes!  What's nice about this particular box program is that any size box will do and having a variety of sizes and shapes will make the game more interesting!
• Balls, balloons, or stuffed animals to act as both your piggies and your Angry Birds.  If you opt for balls or balloons, consider adding faces!
• Your choice of sling shot/projectile device.  When we held this program, we did so outside, allowing us to put sign posts into the ground and wrap bungee cords around them.  Our basket?  A section of pants leg, cut off a pair of jeans that no longer fit.  Another option that doesn't involve poking things into the ground?  Use a towel or blanket and encourage the kids to work together to launch the birds.

Before beginning, discuss with the kids the physics involved with the game.  This is also a great opportunity to show off some of the fabulous books in your collection!

Now, it's time to play!  You can come up with rules and points, if you like, or embrace a free-form, we-all-work-together approach.  Go with whatever works best for you and your patrons!

Fair warning: some folks might become frustrated.  It's not as simple as pulling your finger across the screen and letting go.  There will definitely be some trial-and-error involved.  BUT!  Once they have it, they'll be off and running and having a blast!

One concern you may have--I know I did!--is likely this: How many times will I have to reset this wall o' piggies?!  Chances are, you won't have to, excluding the initial program set up!  The kids had a blast running back and forth, creating new obstacles and layouts, then demolishing them with playground balls.  (Plus, more STEM fun...building!  Woo!)

8 Books about Gamers and Gaming

Over at Teen Services Underground, Sereena Hamm brings us an awesome list of YA and early adult books about gamers and gaming.  With the summer CSLP Teen theme being "Get in the Game Read" this list could not be more timely!  While we would traditionally think of this theme as revolving around sports, by incorporating books with subjects like video games, board games, RPGs (role-play games), and MMOGs (massively multiplayer online games), librarians can connect with readers whose interests lie outside the realm of athletics.  Check out the full list HERE.

Life-Size Hungry Hungry Hippos

If you're like me you love anything life size, whether it be Giant Jenga or enormous outdoor checkers.  So, when I discovered Life-Sized Hungry Hungry Hippos, I was a little bit excited.  It involves three major components: buckets/baskets, plastic balls, and scooters.  And also, SPACE.  This is a large game (life-sized!) and thus needs a fairly large amount of space.  Life-Sized Hungry Hungry Hippos is a great tween event, with or without competitive elements/prizes.  It is also an awesome way to incorporate movement and activity in the library.  For more info on Life-Sized Hungry Hungry Hippos, click HERE.

Teens, Games, and Collaboration - Thursday at WAPL with YSS

This year's series of YSS sponsored programs at the Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries (WAPL) 2016 Conference promises to be full of engaging speakers and ideas. Register for the conference here or to view the full listing of conference programs. Librarians, support staff, trustees, and friends of the library are all invited to attend.

Creative Collaborations: Fostering Future Career Success for Teens

1:30 – 2:30 pm

Katrina Dombrowsky, Columbus Public Library; Melissa Cooley, Job Quest, LLC

pixabay

Libraries are great at working with partners like schools and community groups to enhance programs and services. But have you ever thought about collaborating with your local career coach? Katrina Dombrowsky, Youth Services Director at Columbus Public Library and Melissa Cooley, certified resume writer for The Job Quest, LLC, will share about their unique partnership and how it helped two Teen Advisory Board members become Pages at their beloved library.

Theatre Games for All Ages

3:00 – 4:00 pm

Leah Langby, Indianhead Federated Library System, Eau Claire

pixabay

Learn some creative, cooperative and hilarious games to play with preschoolers, school age kids and teens. You can build a whole program around these games, or use one or two as part of a larger program (or to keep a group of squirrelly kids entertained while someone else tries to fix the DVD player!).

You Don't Have to be Alone: Working with Teens and Other Librarians/Libraries

4:15 - 5:15 pm

Ashlee Kunkel, Milton Public Library

Do you have big ideas but don't have the resources to go it alone? Have your creative juices dried up? Ashlee will talk about the steps she took to create her Teen Advisory Board and the programs she has been able to have because of them. She will also talk about the success of a countywide teen battle of the books put together by seven libraries.

pixabay

52 Weeks: Week 13 Go

Brought to you by the Wisconsin Library Association Youth Services Section, 52 Weeks of YA Programming is a collection of teen programs submitted by YSS members across the state.

Week 13: Go Submitted by YSS Member Colette Bezio

By Xchen27

Live Clue at the Library

With 52 Weeks of Teen Programming and our recent post on recharging teen anima/mange club, we find it irresistible not to share this great post from Teen Services Underground on playing live Clue with teens.

Check it out!

Elephant and Piggie Party!

Brought to you by Susie Menk at Manitowoc Public Library

Manitowoc Public Library Children’s Department recently hosted a Mo Willem’s Elephant & Piggie party as a wrap up to our winter readathon. The readathon was for children up through grade two. Children needed to read ten hours in a six week period. Children who completed their reading logs by March 7 received a little elephant water squirter. 

Then we had an Elephant & Piggie party. Children played games based on Mo Willem’s Elephant & Piggie books. There was a bird’s nest relay race, an Elephant & Piggie photo opportunity, a dress up bin, Elephant & Piggie crafts, as well as pin the trunk/nose on Elephant or Piggie. The kids had a great time! Door prizes of Elephant & Piggie books were given away to round out the party. 

Many of our ideas were from Abby the Librarian’s post or from other Pinterest sources. We just tweaked them a little to work for our patrons!

Games in Libraries Day--June 10

Join your fellow librarians for the first annual Games in Libraries Day, on Tuesday, June 10th in the newly renovated University of Wisconsin-Madison Memorial Union! Games in Libraries Day is a pre-conference for the Games+Learning+Society conference, the premier conference on gaming and learning. This pre-conference event will show you how using games in your library promotes learning and community building for all types of library users. The keynote, lunch, and happy hour are held in partnership with the Playful Learning Summit, a pre-conference for teachers on gaming in the classroom. Meet game-minded professionals from schools and libraries for this inaugural event!

Thanks to sponsorship, the first 20 registrants have been underwritten, so early-bird registration is $50 ($75 after May 1, 2014). Registration after the first 20 persons will cost $100 per person.

Schedule and registration here: http://glsconference.org/2014/games-in-libraries-day/

Please contact Meredith Lowe if you have any questions: mclowe@wisc.edu

Caine's Arcade-Inspired Program in Chippewa Falls

 Editor's note;  Many thanks to Colleen Crowley of the Chippewa Falls Public Library for this guest post!

Setting up a cardboard arcade game

After much publicity to the larger community, especially the local elementary schools, it was time for our long awaited Caine's Arcade-inspired event to take place. Let's back up a moment. Does everyone know about Caine? He made the rounds on You-Tube and even PUBYAC, but I don't know how many of us youth librarians have actually created events in our own local communities.

So for those of you who don't know: He was, at the time of discovery, a 9-year-old boy who created a cardboard video arcade in his father's auto parts store in East L.A. After a local film director met him, his story went viral and can be seen at the website: www.cainesarcade.com. Many interesting things have come out of this story, i.e. a Global Cardboard Challenge, as well as the creation of the Imagination Foundation.

The Chippewa Falls Public Library and the local Boys & Girl's Club collaborated to create our own Cardboard Challenge. The library's contribution was my time for the initial publicity, general planning and about an hour or so of my work time each afternoon for three consecutive days. Though this is a tough time of year to get away, with all us planning for our summer reading programs, this event was a long time in the making, so I felt it was important. 

All youth in the community had been invited and we planned it to occur during the public school's spring break week. Though the Boys & Girls Club is geared to youth ages 8-18, the kids that were in attendance were 8-13 year-olds. The room had a lot of floor space, perfect for the kids to spread out and build their creations. I examined the assortment of supplies. The director had saved cardboard boxes for a few months, but none were very big. He said someone had mistakenly recycled the bigger boxes. When I saw that they were all small boxes, I quickly headed over to the appliance store, conveniently located 2 blocks away and got a few giant boxes.  I brought a lot of other things I'd saved, like egg cartons, empty thermal paper cartridges, recycled blue mushroom trays from the store, empty cardboard tubes from book tape and book cover rolls. These were the types of items the kids latched onto the most.

We got started then as a group, by watching the Caine's Arcade video from Caine's Web page and then discussing the various types and genres of arcade games available today, and in the past. I had brought some photos from Wikipedia and Pinterest that I thought might inspire their creations. Then they began to gather supplies. There was a frenzy to get the 'good stuff' and I can see that it might have been helpful for us, as planners, to come up with a better system for handing out the items. There was some disappointment as some of the teams missed out on supplies that they had wanted. But the kids really made do with what they had.

I spent a lot of time cutting the long tubes into 3 & 4-inch pieces for the kids. Knowing this, I would have saved more empty rolls of 2-inch and 4-inch sized book tape rolls for the kids. Ultimately, I think that while it is nice to have the basic cardboard boxes of different sizes, saving and providing the odd things were the most helpful. The kids made unusual things out of these pieces, like skee-ball holes and marble drops.  I had saved some 10 foot long boxes and kids used them for ramps and other ideas.  I had also saved the ends of the boxes that the library's iPads came in and the kids used those as ticket slots and other interesting additions to their games. 

The children created whack-a-mole, bowling, golf, basket-ball (using hand-created tape balls), tube drops, and knock 'em down 'throw' games just to mention a few of the good ideas. One team even created a cleverly designed dunk tank. My favorite was a photo booth. When it took your picture a 'hand-drawn' photo came out of the slot and the resulting picture showed a funny caricature. Impressive artistic ability, all the way around! 

It ended up being quite chaotic when parents came to get their kids. There were so many games that had been created. There simply wasn't enough time to vote on any of them and certainly not enough time for parents to interact with all the kids as we had hoped.

  Still, in the end, I couldn't help but smile. In my eyes, the goal of the event had been reached --it was all about the journey for these kids. Kids jumped in and used their imaginations to create some elaborate  games that were interesting to try out. They learned something new about themselves, and because many had worked together on teams with new people they worked on some important life skills. Many kids also got a chance to use parts of their brain-spatial, logic and creative thinking that perhaps they didn't utilize all the time. I was truly inspired all over again. Organizing community events like this is what makes being a youth librarian worthwhile. For a moment in time, I was part of something bigger and I am grateful everyday for the opportunities, like this one, to be here in this place, in this position.