Mostly dated, and often bad computer games have been showing up on library shelves for a few years now. But you'd be hard pressed to find anything that you wanted to play, that wasn t in a $1 bin at the local Target. That may change as libraries are beginning to understand the relevance of gaming in today's society.

Gamer and librarian John Scalzo writes that he was able to kick start a test program that would put console games in the library he works at. One of the most fascinating things about his story, are the steps he had to go through to get a game through the libraries doors. He couldn't get mature titles, no Simpsons games and he had to use the "library-approved store."

One of the things that popped up early on is that libraries are not allowed to restrict who can and can't check-out what's on their shelves. So, if they carry it anyone, be they 3 or 80, can check it out. This would, by law, prevent libraries from carrying any mature titles.

Here's Scalzo's list of initial titles:

Alias
Amplitude
Culdcept
ESPN NBA 2K5
ESPN NFL 2K5
ESPN NHL 2K5
Finding Nemo
Gradius V
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Hot Shots Golf Fore!
The Incredibles
Katamari Damacy
Lord of the Rings: The Third Age
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
Scaler
Sonic Mega Collection Plus
Spider-Man 2
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
Tony Hawk's Underground 2
Van Helsing
WWE Smackdown VS Raw

The Video Game Librarian [Gaming Target]

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