This article is from the first edition of The Video Game Librarian website I published between 2008 and 2010. It was originally written on November 10, 2008.
This is a friendly reminder that National Gaming Day @ Your Library is scheduled for this Saturday, November 15, and it’s not too late to get involved. In fact, the American Library Association has two programs that can help librarians get their game on.
The first activity will be a national video game tournament using the Ann Arbor Library’s GT System. Interested librarians can sign up at icanhaz.com/ngd to participate.
If a national video game tournament sounds like too much, librarians who register to participate can also obtain a copy of the Hasbro board game Pictureka! for free. Hasbro has offered to donate a copy of the game to every public library branch in the U.S. And because of that, the second activity is an attempt to set a record for the most number of people playing a board game at the same time. The free copies of Pictureka! were sent out a few weeks ago, so if you’re at a public library, it’s likely you’ve already received yours.
Finally, an online publicity tool kit with downloadable artwork, a customizable postcard, a sample press release, a sample letter to the editor, and much more can be found at the ALA’s Games and Gaming Resources page or through a Facebook Event.