1. Aren’t libraries about books and reading?

In the 21st century, libraries are about much more than books! In fact, libraries work very hard to provide patrons of all ages with a rich and current menu of CDs and DVDs, as well as electronic and online resources. Video game resources and programs at the library actually complement these existing services. Featuring this new gaming media helps the library expand its reach while meeting community expectations.

2. Aren’t video games just a passing fad?

Actually, video games have been popular for more than 30 years. In fact, three generations have grown up with video games - Generation Xers, Generation Y, and Millennials. It’s not only the digital natives who are playing video games. The average age of today’s gamer is 35-years old, and Baby Boomers and Seniors are playing them more than ever before! Libraries across the country are offering family gaming nights that bring the generations together for a gaming experience they can’t share anywhere else.

3. Why should kids play video games at the library?

Lots of kids play video games at home – alone, with siblings, or with friends. The library is a safe and non-commercialized space. At the library, kids socialize with their friends and play video games while surrounded by books, librarians, and knowledge. Video gaming at the library encourages young patrons to interact with diverse peers, share their expertise with others (including adults), and develop new strategies for gaming and learning.

There's several more bits of promotional material, and while I think this move to get games into public libraries is of questionable efficacy in terms of getting them to read books, it's interesting watching gaming move into a really public space (and targeted at kids, no less) in a concerted manner.

National Gaming Day @ Your Library [I Love Libraries via GameSetWatch]

... doubtful teachers and literacy experts question how effective it is to use an overwhelmingly visual medium to connect youngsters to the written word. They suggest that while a handful of players might be motivated to pick up a book, many more will skip the text and go straight to the game. Others suggest that video games detract from the experience of being wholly immersed in a book.

Some researchers, though, say that even when children don’t read much text, they are picking up skills that can help them thrive in a visually oriented digital world. And some educational experts suggest that video games still stimulate reading in blogs and strategy guides for players.

To be sure, some of the experiments pairing electronic games with books will be little more than marketing gimmicks. But publishers and authors suggest that some projects may push creative boundaries, helping to extend storytelling beyond the traditional covers of a book.

I'm not sure WoW et al. are the best examples of compelling story lines that approximate literature, and some of the library-driven initiatives don't exactly seem to encourage "traditional" literacy (having seen plenty of students happily sleeping in university libraries, it takes more than just getting them in the door). Still, as James Paul Gee notes in the article, there are issues beyond "pick up a book and read it" that games can teach; critical thinking skills, for example, have rarely served anyone wrong. Besides, one never knows where video games will lead — one of the best and brightest in my department recently confessed that a Romance of the Three Kingdoms game is what started his interest in China.

Using Video Games as Bait to Hook Readers [The New York Times via Pop Cosmopolitanism]

I'm not all that clear on how Guitar Hero is going to promote literacy. When you think about it, the very concept of Guitar Hero is about dumbing-down an activity so every one can do it, which would make it the literary equivalent of a McDonald's picture menu, but it sure does give News-4's reporter an excellent chance to stand on camera with a guitar controller. Hit the jump for the video report, condemned there due to its auto-starting nature.

I think overall the answer to the question, at least in regards to the games they are playing, is not really, but I think we should all lie and make it seem like the children are smarter just so we can stop by our local libraries and play Guitar Hero in the future.

Do video games make kids smarter? [KVOA News 4 via Game Politics]

Ah, but is the writing in these games any good? Well, it's variable, like the writing in books. Some of it's rubbish and some of it is very good. (In my opinion, Phoenix Wright is funnier and cleverer than most TV made for adults.) But quality doesn't really matter. My memory of reading as a child is basically that of voraciously hoovering up any old crap. (This turned out to be excellent training for becoming a book reviewer.)

Not all of the games that children are playing are so dependent on reading, of course. Doubtless children are also playing a lot of games where you race shiny cars or shoot zombies into bloody chunks with massive guns. Well, everybody has to relax now and then. To insist that a young person spend every minute of his or her waking day in adult-mandated forms of self-improvement would be a kind of child abuse.

In answer to the 'is our children reading?' comment - no, they're probably not reading as much as they 'should,' but Poole's point about new forms of literacy is a well-taken one. Not that it will stem the tide of 'Video games are ruining literacy rates!' screeching, but one can dream ....

Is our children reading? [The Guardian]

'Most of them have their own TVS and mobiles and 37 per cent are playing computer games for three hours or more a day - more than in most countries in the study.'

Video games blamed for reading problems [Metro.co.uk - Thanks Garwai]

According to Katie Salen, the Executive Director of the Gamelab Institute of Play, who has been teaching game design to children:

...Today, it's not so much about knowing the exact content on page 309, but it's understanding how the content on page 309 might be connected to content on page 500, which then may be impacted by something you find elsewhere on the Web.

Basically, it's a way to teach children how to think about those big picture problems. The example given by NPR is the complex situation of how driving your car eventually affects greenhouse gases, which in turn affects the animals in the ice caps, like polar bears. The lesson here is to see the connection between a car and the polar bear.

I know, you're saying, "Blah, blah, blah... How come public school kids get to learn game design when I had to learn how to read by watching the Electric Company?!" Kim Phu

Proposed Video-Game School Gets $1.1 Million Boost [NPR via Next-Gen]