One of my favorite events at #ALAAC2024 is ALA Play sponsored by the Games and Gaming Round Table. Traditionally, it is on the Friday night of Annual and takes place in an entire ballroom. Yes, there are that many games! What happens at ALA Play? Everyone plays games! Board games, Role-Playing Games (RPGs), and, this year, video games on Nintendo Switch.
It is a great way to learn about new games for your library. Representatives from the board game companies or the game developers are there to explain and teach the games, so you do not have to spend a lot of time reading the rules. It is also a fun way to meet new librarians as you are throwing stuffed burritos at them (Throw, Throw, Burrito) or trying to knock them off the road (Mario Kart). There is always a lot of laughter emanating from the ALA Play ballroom.
There are also often discount coupons offered so that you can purchase the games that you try for your library. My student patrons love playing games after they check out. This year, I am thinking about hosting a gaming fest that will also involve students designing (and then playing!) their own games.
If you did not have a chance to go to ALA Play this year, you can still try out some of the games at the Gaming Lounge on the Exhibit Hall floor (Booth 350). Play on!
Guest Contributor Soline Holmes (she/her/hers) is a librarian and the Information Services Department chair at Academy of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is the Secretary for ALA’s Graphic Novels and Comics Roundtable, co-chair of ALSC’s Children and Libraries Editorial Advisory Committee, and a member of ALSC’s Public Awareness and Advocacy Committee. She also serves on the Louisiana Young Readers Choice Award committees for K-2 and 3-5 and is a Teaching with Primary Sources Network Mentor. She has given presentations on graphic novels, Mother Goose and STEM, Primary Sources, and Global Education at local and national conferences. At ALA, she is looking forward to some of her favorite events: GameRT’s ALAPlay, the GNCRT Magical Comics Tea, and the Newbery/Caldecott/Legacy Banquet. When she was little, Soline wanted to be the first person to direct and star in the first musical on the moon….
Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.