Gaming @ NYPL

New York Public Library has gotten on board with video gaming in a big way! Not only are they offering gaming programs at many of their branches, they are also circulating 2,500 copies of 92 different games! Wow!

Taking Play Seriously at the Public Library With Young Video Gamers

“I thought a library was just for books, just for studying, just for a lot of things I don’t normally do,” he said. “But when I found out the library was starting to have games it was great, because it’s really good to hear that the library is paying more attention to the youth and what we’re into.”

He paused. “And it’s also good because I can just say to my parents, ‘I’m going to the library.’”

The power of graphic novels

No Laughs, No Thrills, and Villains All Too Real
By Michael Kimmelman for the New York Times

Interesting article talking about how graphic novels are helping a new generation of Germans and French understand the Holocaust.

Sultan teens need entertainment

While some may view gaming at the library as dumbing kids down, I have to say I have seen a small town such as Sultan with very little to do for teens in desperate need of free, readily accessible, positive entertainment that keeps kids engaged with each other in a welcoming public place--as an alternative to producing the unfortunate ones who become street corner meth users. Gaming and other engaging events to lure non-readers is not a luxury in a town like this.

Gaming in libraries - the dumbing down of a nation?

So, here I sit at SVC awaiting a late trainer. A perfect time to update the Lynnwood MySpace blog! Ok. Done with that. Hmm. Ok, time to catch up on the listservs I've largely been ignoring. YALSA-L...what?!

Dave Gibson, in the American Chronicle:

"Unfortunately, it appears that this country's librarians have decided to do their part in the dumbing-down of America. What has happened to this country?...All of the librarians I have known were in love with the written word and truly enjoyed opening the door to their world to young people. Perhaps, today's crop of young librarians would be better served answering their calling as arcade attendants and movie theatre managers."

So, comrades, do you feel like you are dumbing down young people?

heh. Happy people are dissing the hater all over the internet. Check it out.

-Jackie

article: Classroom Misbehavior

Classroom Misbehavior
Some authors treat the subject of affairs between boys and their teachers as romance; others see it for what it is--the stealing of innocence
March 9, 2008 - Sonja Bolle for the LA Times

Anyone looking for easy explanations for what some have called "an epidemic" of this sort of sexual abuse will find them in these books: The absence of parents in teens' lives, the increased possibility of secrecy in e-mail as well as cellphone communication. But the choices each novelist makes in telling the story make the reading experiences vary widely.

an article on gaming jobs to point curious teens towards...

Tough Competition for Video-Gaming Jobs
Monday, March 3, 2008
San Francisco Chronicle

In reality, love of games is a prerequisite for most jobs in the industry, which is concentrated in the Bay Area and a few other tech-heavy regions. But as with so many things in life, it turns out that love is not enough...

A realistic look at what it takes to make it in the gaming industry, and how little you might make as you try and work your way up.

teen repellent?

A friend forwarded this to me today:

Teenage loiterers affecting your business? Get your business back on track with the Mosquito™ Utrasonic Teen Repellent!

I have to say, I'm rather appalled. But if they had the opposite, I'd get it for our libraries ;)