Going for the Gold Innovating and Collaborating thru Gaming and Digital Technologies The Georgetown County Library’s C

1. Going for the GoldInnovating and Collaborating thru Gaming and Digital Technologies The Georgetown County Library’s Challenges and Successes Dwight McInvaill, Director Georgetown County Library, SC 843-545-3304 dmcinvaill@georgetowncountysc.org Presentation to the Association for Rural and Small Libraries Conference September 2009

2. Georgetown County’s Library in 1859

3. Prosperity on the Back of Enslaved Persons

4. Georgetown County Library 2009

5. But Enduring Problems Remain

6. We’ve Got Local Problems that Need Creative Solutions!

7. And Also Some ScarierNational Ones!

8. How Do We Continue to Succeed in aBrave New World?

9. Let’s Do Something Exciting!

10. Presently, Libraries are Popular.

12. Recommendations for Libraries(According to the Da Vinci Institute) • Evaluate the library experience (Survey the community; figure out how to get at the heart of what matters most to your community.) • Embrace new information technologies. • Preserve the memories of your own communities.(Don’t let yours disappear.) • Experiment with creative spacesso the future role of the library can define itself.

13. A Paradox? If we would like things to remain the same – with libraries at the center of their communities (universities, schools, businesses, cities, towns, etc.) – then, maybe, we have got to do some things differently?

14. Augmented Library Users? Graz University of Technology, Austria

15. Augmented Libraries? Brabant Library, Netherlands (proposed) American Library Association Library in Second Life Graz Tech University, Austria

16. Why Wait for the Future? Delft Library, Netherlands

17. We Need to Cultivate All of Our Resources Now! Georgetown County Library, South Carolina

18. Our Library Faces Challenges. For example, we have • Limited Resources • Staff (Only 24 FTEs to serve 60,000 citizens at 4 locations) • Money (Of 42 public library systems in SC, we rank only 19th in total operating income) • Lack of Expertise • Need to Garner Support for Innovations from: • Library Board, Itself • County Government • Staff • General Public • Grant Givers

19. The Library Does All Sorts of Programs for Youngsters

20. We’ve had Success inInnovating and Collaborating

21. When We Hosted a Ben Franklin Exhibit, We Even Had Dancing in the Heart of the Exhibit! To achieve success , we collaborated successfully with our national funders, with the Humanities Council of SC, with the Studio of Dance, and with the Georgetown County School District.

22. The library system is a key member of the Georgetown County First Steps Partnership which aims to prepare preschoolers to be emotionally, intellectually, and physically ready for first grade. As part of this aim, the library established book collections in 42 childcare centers throughout the county. The library also obtained grant funds to develop a special educational curriculum and to supply a storyteller to visit each of these preschool centers monthly to entertain the youngsters and to serve as a model for the childcare providers. Additionally, the library continues to furnish monthly workshops where preschool instructors can earn continuing-education certification credits. For this work, the library system won in 2003, the first “Counties Care for Kids Award” given by the National Association of Counties.

23. So We’ve Always Known that Libraries can Benefit Young People, but First, You’ve Got to Get THEM inside!

24. We’ve Used Innovative Technology Projects to Get Folks to Visit Us One of Our Projects Involves Interactive Gaming

25. Here’s a View of our Interactive Gaming Center at our Carvers Bay Branch Your Public Library: Keeping Your Community Connected http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM7jAbvLUFc&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Egclibrary%2Eorg%2Fdefault%2Easp

26. SuccessTakes Good Rules, People, Spaces, Equipment, Games, and PR! We Started with THE LIBRARY CARD.

28. Checking Out Library Materials Comes With Being in the Library Gaming Club. Graphic Novels, Videos, Music, Magazines, Gaming Rules, and Even Regular Books!

29. Great Staff is Key to Success! Marilynn Robb, Carvers Bay Branch Manager

30. Donald Dennis, Overall Gaming Project Manager (Bunnelle Youth Technology Experience Series –BYTEs)

31. Truman Winns, Carver Bay Branch Library, Gaming Site Assistant

32. Good Spaces are Needed, too. That takes additional planning, along with equipment.

33. Surround Sound Rear Speakers in ceiling Center Channel (High) Meetings Gaming Research Teaching Movies Listening Learning Teleconference Camera LCD Flat Panel Display Main Left Main Right Center Channel (Low) XBOX Receiver DVD/VCR Headphones Computer Network HUB Signal Limiter Audio Mixer USB HUB Power Outlet A/V Input Network Port Sub Left Sub Right

34. Kool-Aid Jammers will Draw Some Folks in like Bees to Flowers! So will Good Publicity.

38. Wait! Is This Really Okay? Are You Sure? Parents are often concerned.

39. See ALA’s Gaming Web Site for Some Good Points about the Value of Gaming for Kids. • To Play, Kids will get Library Cards & Read Books • Games Sometimes Provide Stories in a New Format • Games Encourage Problem Solving and Critical Thinking • Games Involve Experimenting and Evaluating • Games Meet Developmental Needs of Teens Established by National Middle School Association • Games Encourage Social Interaction Between Peers and Non Peers, Enforce Rules and Boundaries, Encourage Creative Expression, and Reward Competence • Some Games Help to Release and Manage Anger and Frustration (See this Book: Grand Theft Childhood) • Some Games are Physically Healthy: Dance Dance Revolution Gets Heart Rates Up to 140 Beats Per Minute • Some Games Help Students with Special Needs (See this study from 2005: The Effects of a Consumer Oriented Multimedia Game on the Reading Disorders of Children) • Games have Recreational Value • Many Games are Social • Some Games Require Reading Instructions, Menus, and More • Some Games (D&D, Sports Games, etc) Require Statistical Skills and an Understanding of Probability • Some Games Introduce Us to History, Music, etc. • THE LIST COULD GO ON AND ON!

40. Have a Good Event Schedule • Carvers Bay Library • Tournament Schedule (Detailed below) • OPEN 2nd or 4th weekend of every month (Detailed below) • GAME CLUB ONLY 3rd weekend of every month (Detailed below) • Digital Arts Literacy Experience Through the end of the 2009-2010 school year. • Additional programs will be created if their grant status does not continue. • YDACS Game design program Weekday Afternoons June 9th – July -27th 2009. (Perhaps expanding to Georgetown.) • Andrews Library • Tournament Schedule • OPEN 1st weekend of every month (Starting with completion of room) • GAME CLUB ONLY 3rd weekend of every month (Starting with completion of room) • Digital Arts Literacy Experience Through the end of the 2009-2010 school year. • Additional programs will be created to fill the gap if their grant status does not continue. • YDACS Game design program Weekday Afternoons June 9th – July -27th 2010. (If test run at Carvers Bay is successful.) • WBL Library • OPEN Gaming 1st weekend of every month (Starting March 2010) • Digital Arts class Starts January 2010 if Andrews room completed. • Writing/Storytelling/Blogging January • Digital Photography February • Audio March • Film April • Repeat in summer and Fall • Georgetown Branch • Kids Activities • Small Bytes June 9th – July -27th Kids programming in the Technology and computer lab • 10:00 am – Noon on Tuesdays • Afternoons on Thursdays • Mid-Week Manga Talk about Manga, comic books, Anime, and related web sites • Afternoons on Wednesdays during the summer. June 9th – July -27th • 2nd Wednesday evening of the month thereafter • Family Game Night • Tuesdays starting in May • Game Tournaments • OPEN TOURNAMENT 2rd weekend of every month (Detailed below) • GAME CLUB ONLY 3nd weekend of every month (Detailed below)

41. Have Speakers at Game Club Meetings andTournaments: • May – Norman Lewis (Mentor – Local) • June – Tronster Hartly (Sr. Programmer ~ Firaxis Games Web conference) • July – Ron Brown (USC) • August – Adam Cooksey of Perry Cunningham (Game Stop - Local) • September – NONE – Hurricane party • October – DJ Hammonds (Artist - Local) • November – Alan Webb (Game Tester, Level Designer - Web conference) • December Tim Collins & Donald Dennis • January – Kathy Tempesta (Zenimax, Producer, Test Lead) • February – Steve Roff Service over Self (Approached, not confirmed) • March - Sean Torrens (Parks & Rec – Local) • April – County IT guys. (We’ve talked to several, and they are interested. Asked us to get in touch as we got closer to the time.

42. Here’s the URL for Libraries, Literacy and Gaming at ALA: http://librarygamingtoolkit.org ALA & Verizon Made It Possible

48. 10 Recipients of $5,000 Literacy and Gaming Initiative Grants • Anderson Public Library, Anderson, Ind.: “Techie Tuesdays” emphasizes technology and information literacy through gaming. Held over a period of six months, the program is divided into three, six-week courses engaging students by making a video game, a board game, and a book trailer. • Brewster Ladies Library, Brewster, Mass.: The library will use GPS technology to create an adventure game that requires reading, research, critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork, and aligns closely with technology standards established by the International Society for Technology in Education. • Cascade Middle School, Cascade, Wash.: • The library’s Gaming Zone initiative will develop two afterschool programs a week, encompassing board and video game creation workshops, tournaments and hint book/cheat sheet development. • Henshaw Middle School Library, Anchorage School District, Anchorage, Alaska: Expand DDR to 10 middle schools & add a lunchtime computers gaming program to use Spore & Civilization, strategy simulation games

49. Indian Trails Public Library, Wheeling, Ill.: • Participants will learn about four categories of gaming from gaming experts: computer animation games, card games, board games, and role-playing games, then work in teams to create games. Then, they will participate in a Game Fair using the Science Fair model, and compete in the Chicago Toy and Game Fair Young Inventor Challenge. • Manhattanville College Library, Purchase, N.Y. : Students will design games for middle school students on how to use the library to find a book, use a general database, ask for reference help, navigate the library website, and develop a time management plan. • San Pablo Library, San Pablo, Calif.: Youth will track their participation in a variety of music-literacy related activities via a 'Musical Scavenger Hunt' big game.

50. Sewickley Public Library, Sewickley, Pa.: In this 10-week program, middle school youth will plan and facilitate gaming events for younger students, which will then be held at the public library. Participants will document their efforts by producing a video of the steps they followed. A school assembly to showcase participants’ finished movie would entice fellow teens to get involved with the next session and would make the students accountable for their time spent in the program. A viewing would also be held in the library for parents and interested community members. • Wayne County Public Library, Goldsboro, N.C.: • This narrative focused experience includes a variety of creative and competitive events to give the youth in the community a place of their own that caters to their interests while fulfilling their needs for intellectual growth. Example: A fan-fiction contest where young people will write original stories about their favorite video game characters and create stories incorporating characters they create in games.