The Escapist, an online magazine about game design and game play, dedicated an entire issue to educational gaming. There are articles about Dance, Dance Revolution in gym class; game design in colleges; Whyville; business simulations; and, most interestingly (to me) games in libraries.
I’m a regular library-goer, borrowing books, DVDs, and CDs, but games in libraries? The article talks about how game tournaments capitalize on libraries’ strengths and pull kids into the world of libraries; it makes the cute point that games can be a “gateway drug” that interests kids in all that libraries have to offer. A response to those who argue that games might dumb down a library’s mission–most people don’t go to the library to take out Paradise Lost and Ulysses. Romances and thrillers are far more popular.
What’s great about this article is that it explores both the idea and the practice of integrating games into library communities, mentioning the article that this librarian wrote about games in libraries.
