Do video games belong in public libraries?

[Librarian Mike]

Okay, so as you can gather by my username I work for the public library in Edmonton, Canada. Recently, we started to have video games in our collection for people to borrow for up to a week. We have PS3, 360, and Wii games. It was decided to carry only games rated up to 'T' for the time being (my guess is it was done so we would have time to educate parents that what their kids take out is their responsibility). Anyway, so far it's been pretty successful and we've had lots of positive feedback. What I'm curious about is whether or not they have video games in the library where you live, what kinds of games they have, and how having them has worked out. I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say.

 

[xitel]

I haven't been in my library in years. I love owning things too much.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

No. They cost way too much to make to give away for free.

 

[Teh_Doomage]

I have to say, most video games tend to be works of fiction and most tend to be well written...but I don't think they belong in a library.

 

[AuntyEthel]

I've never seen it before. Its a good idea though. I assume people can take them out for free?

Since finding wrestling videos in my library, I wouldn't put it past them to stock anything.

 

[Fightgarr]

While its a good theory to have games available to rent for free I know, from my experience in the Toronto public library system, that those discs will be scratched to shit 2 months in and will be virtually unplayable.

On the other hand, I'm not sure about having video games (or even movies beyond documentaries) in the public library system. I just feel that the library should keep to books and internet access.

 

[HomeAliveIn45]

Ever since Wikipedia (God in electric form) came along, I have not visited a library a single time.

 

[Avatar Roku]

My Mom's a reference librarian here in New Jersey, and, seeing how I turned out as a gamer, she talked the library into buying a Wii and some games like Rockband. You can't take them out, but the library holds events, mostly for Rock band, for teens every now and then. And, since nobody there knows how to work a Wii (except for my Mom's co-reference librarian, who got one for herself after seeing what it was like at the library), I've built up quite a resume of public service for college.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

They experimented with this in the 90's. They called it Blockbuster, in the days of yor...

 

[geldonyetich]

That would be awesome if it worked. It would save me $15/mo that I'd otherwise send to GameFly if they started doing that in the U.S. However, it's probably going to fail because people are going to damage/destroy the games in the library's care.

 

[N-Sef]

They could stock really old games like Hovertank 3D or even something like Day of the Tenticle. It could prove be a useful history lesson for younger gamers, and might entice them to actually visit a library. But that's a long shot.

Apart from old games, I really see no reason for games to leave video rental outlets like Blockbuster or Video Ezy.

 

[gigastrike]

The library is a place you go to find information, not games.

 

[Raven28256]

I have to say, most video games tend to be works of fiction and most tend to be well written...but I don't think they belong in a library.

Most video games tend to be well written? Really? Dear lord I do hope you are being sarcastic, because VERY few games have even decent writing. The overwhelmingly vast majority of games have cliche-ridden plots scraping the very bottom of the genre's barrel, two dimensional characters, and dialogue that is both cheesy and so downright poor that it makes me want to mute the TV. I mean, for fuck's sake, HALO is considered an above average plot for an FPS and that is basically just about a genetically-engineered, superhuman armored space marine with a personality so weak calling him two dimensional is a compliment, fighting waves of hostile aliens threatening the survival of the human race...All of which have been sci-fi cliches for nearly as long as the genre has existed.

The ratio of games with good writing to games with mediocre to terrible writing is pathetic. You probably have like one generally well written game for every twenty downright terribly written games, and that is being optimistic. The ratio of decent to well written movies and novels compared to the muck in any given year is much better than games, and that is pretty sad considering the movie industry has Uwe Boll, Friedberg and Seltzer, and Michael Bay.

/rant over

Moving along, I don't think games should be in a library. For that matter, I don't think movies should either. Just books and documentary films, which I believe someone else mentioned. Really, come on. A library is for books, and a place to learn and study subjects. In other words, libraries are a place for education outside of school. Not to sound stuck up, but please, try and convince me of the educational value of games like Gears of War 2, Fracture, Dark Sector, and Soul Calibur IV. Even mindless, terrible books have educational value in the sense that it helps you with your reading skills. Most games are purely for entertainment, and offer no real educational value. And "giving you better reflexes" doesn't count as educational value. So, by this reasoning, perhaps educational games could be in a library, but not your typical mainstream game. Or, your typical mainstream movie for that matter. Blockbuster exists for a reason.

 

[Lord Beautiful]

No, there're no games in our libraries.

 

[Space Spoons]

As much as I love games, I have to admit, the idea of having them in a library doesn't make a great deal of sense to me. A library is supposed to be a place of literature, both educational and informative. Now, I'm not saying that there aren't any games that possess worthwhile stories... But they aren't books, and they'll never be on par with great literature. It's just that simple.

 

[LCP]

HAHA screw literature! Yes to games

(yes i do read i am not an illiterate fool, i was trying to make a controversial statement)

 

[Librarian Mike]

I have to say I'm surprised that so many of you are against the idea of games in libraries. I think the fact that they are considered part of the collection goes a long way to recognizing them as a valid art form.

 

[Et3rnalLegend64]

I once took out Shadow of the Colossus from my library (and it kinda fits, doesn't it?) Sadly, I couldn't finish it, but that's besides the point. When I first saw it, it seemed really out of place. I will definitely disagree when they start putting up Halo or God of War. SotC, on the other hand, is an epic story and is thus somewhat fitting for a library (it still seems strange to me though)

 

[Walrus42]

No, because the people who come in for games and the people who come in for books are different. The people who want to play games aren't going to look at the books and the people looking for books aren't going to want to play the games. The games are going to make more kids want to come to the library but not for the right reason.

 

[SwiftFlux]

We've had old and used video games in our library for a couple of years now. Parents just donate their kids old games they don't play anymore or steal their college kids games while they're away. I think it's a decent idea, though I'm probably not about to check them out