Adaptive Learning and Social Uses

Exploration is a key part of gaming; it is also a key part of learning and despite many games not actually being created as educational tools they still manage to assist in the education approach.  MMORPGs are one of these beasts that are not intended to be educational but they do provide a context for adaptive learning.  MMOs are fictional narratives with a social construct integral to success, one that promotes socialization through a virtual medium and collaboration as many of the challenges faced within the game require help from multiple people to conquer it.  Pop culture and societal issues are seeded through video games and understanding references and allusions to such makes for a better gaming experience and promotes critical literacy.

Librarians and Video Games

Librarians would be a key aspect of having video games in library, especially if they have a love for gaming.  The idea behind this is that like readers advisory, you could have a players advisory recommending games for people of all denominations while also allowing parents of younger children to understand what games their child is playing.  In respect to ratings that games are given for ease of helping parents it should be noted that the ESRB that governs game ratings is widely used and has a broader range of categories than movie ratings do.

Video games and Reading Comprehension

As a person who loves video games and books in equal measure (for much the same reason) the idea of having video games in libraries appeals to me.  The reason for this is that I grew up learning how to read by playing video games just as much by reading books.  For a long time when I was babysat as a toddler, my brother would play games and read the text out to me.  As I got older he pushed me to read without his help and as such it contributed to my comprehension increasing as well as the speed at which I read.

Libraries and innovation

Libraries have been centers of learning and innovation since Franciscan monks began taking oral histories and writing them down in order to learn about the communities that they were now a part of.  Should libraries start to bring video games to their shelves they will be continuing this process of innovation and staying connected to their communities while maintaining their position as mediator and holder of all materials; despite cries for censorship and that video games do nothing but cause violence and obesity

Why video games should be in Libraries

Video games are a source of multiple avenues of learning and reading if one takes the time to critically analyze, rather than tossing it out as being a lesser format.  Most people in today’s world have either known or grown up with video games as a source of entertainment, yet if one were to look deeper they would realize the complexity that goes into video games.  From new to renowned composers that create the music in video games, you get an idea of musical literacy.  Because games can be so large, musical scores must find a way to narrate the time when the story is not being told.  Screenwriters hone their craft for video games just as much as the novelist hones his words for the page, thus when one plays a deeply enriching game they can feel just as much as when one reads a book with that same characteristic.  As a varied and multi-tiered literary monolith the video game should be just as available in the library as books and movies are.