National Gaming Day

 

Wow, I don't know how I hadn't heard about this before, but the American Library Association has decided that this Saturday (11/15/08) is National Gaming Day!  Libraries across the country will be working together this weekend to create the biggest single cross country day of gaming ever.

 

On November 15, 2008, libraries across the country will participate in the largest, simultaneous national video game tournament ever held! Kids will be able to compete against players at other libraries and see their scores in real-time online while playing at their local library.

 

But gaming in libraries isn’t just about video games. Hasbro is donating a copy of its game Pictureka! to every public library branch in the U.S. so that we can set a record for the most number of people playing a board game on the same day! Top Trumps and Wizards of the Coast are also donating games. The goals of this event are to:

 

• Raise awareness about the use of games as a library program;


• Expose people to a new type of board game;


• Establish connections between local board game groups and the library.

 

This is so damn cool.  Bravo to the American Library association for promoting both board games and video games as healthy and educational activities.  Far too often we hear about how video games are corrupting the youth of america and how games like D&D are evil games that lead to partaking in the occult.  It's so refreshing to read something like the following on their website.

 

Video games give kids a chance to practice reading, writing, and computing in the library’s safe environment. Popular video games, the ones that kids really like to play, are immediately engaging and make them work hard to succeed and ‘level up’. While playing these games, kids are constantly developing new strategies, predicting possible outcomes, managing multiple resources, reading and deciphering maps, tracking complex statistics, and adapting to increasingly difficult levels within the game. They learn a range of media literacies beyond basic reading that give them models for navigating our information-rich world.

 

Hells yes!  Gaming is good for you!  As an avid gamer it makes me really happy that this is happening.  I am going to have to swing by my local library this weekend and see if I can help out by running some games.

 

Also, a tip of the hat to Wizards of the Coast, Hasbro and Top Trumps for helping to sponsor the event and for providing games to the libraries.  That's really awesome of them.  Helping to promote gaming of any kind to children is an idea I fully endorse.  More stuff like this needs to happen in the world. 

 

Yay, finding this has put me in a really good mood.  Go libraries!!!

 

(Via Joystiq)