This presentation was created for the 2015 Indiana Library Federation District Two Conference. It gives an overview why board games are educational, types of board games, using board games for library programming, and circulating board games in library collections.

1. Board in the Library
Jessica Jacko Barnes
Frankfort Community Public Library
Addalee Jernagan
Williamsport-Washington Twp. Public
Library

2. This presentation is available online at
http://www.slideshare.net/JessicaJackoBarnes

3. Board Games in Public Libraries
• Educational benefits (especially for children)
• Information for board game newbies
• Programming
• Circulating collection

4. And why we should consider having them as part of our library
collection and programming

5. Just because a game doesn’t require strategy doesn’t
mean it isn’t educational.

6. Learning Opportunities
• Educational Concepts
▫ Number and shape recognition, grouping, and
counting
▫ Letter recognition and reading
▫ Visual perception and color recognition
▫ Eye-hand coordination and manual dexterity
▫ Reinforces material
▫ Immagination

7. Learning Opportunities
• Social Concepts
▫ Verbal communication
▫ Sharing
▫ Taking turns and patience
▫ Attention span
▫ Organization
▫ Winning and losing & sportsmanship
▫ Mastery of skill

8. Getting gamers into the building

9. Tabletop Gaming
• $700 million spent in 2014
• Family and friends groups
▫ Getting people who already game into the library
• Teens in the library
• Kickstarter making it possible for a bigger
variety of games
• GenCon in Indy attracted almost 57,000 people

10. Kids of all ages love to game.

11. Green Bay Packers and
Settlers of Catan
This season, several Green Bay Packers
became slightly obsessed with “Settlers of
Catan.” Epic game nights held at players’
homes carried over into the locker room. It
became so popular that the group bought
an expansion pack so that six players could
play the normally four-player game.
One of the players mentioned the game on
a local radio show, and the owner of Gnome
Games in Green Bay was bombarded with
calls about the board game.
“The game’s popularity among the Packers
is due in part to the lack of other things to
do in town. Green Bay is the smallest town
in the NFL. ‘We’re always looking for
something to do, it’s cold. No one wants to
go outside, better find something,’ Flynn
said. ‘And this is a great game.’”

12. What is Gen Con?
Gen Con is a consumer and trade
experience dedicated to gaming culture and
community.
Gen Con has become the largest annual
consumer fantasy, electronic, sci-fi and
adventure game convention in North
America.
Each year gaming enthusiasts converge to
share their enthusiasm for all things
gaming; whether its tournaments, celebrity
appearances, exhibit hall booths, electronic
games, workshops, seminars, anime, art
shows, auctions or countless other
activities.
Game manufacturers and publishers
consistently utilize Gen Con as the place to
launch new games and new products, show
off the latest and greatest game expansions
and features, and host incredible
tournaments. From world championships
awarding thousands of dollars to non-
professional games created by passionate
enthusiasts, playing games is what it's all
about.

13. It’s not just Monopoly anymore.

14. Things to Consider
• Heavy vs. Lighter games
▫ Heavier games have more interlocking systems
(more steps to complete each round) and usually
take longer
• Game mechanics
▫ How the game is played (for example, Monopoly is
roll and move)

15. Types of Games
There is an infinite number of game genre and
subgenres, but four basic types of game include
the following categories:
• Party games
• Family games
• Euro games
• War games

16. Party Games
• Light games that work well with large groups of
people, take less time, and require less skill than
other games
▫ Why Did the Chicken?
▫ Apples to Apples
▫ Time’s Up
▫ Cluzzle
▫ Wits & Wagers
▫ Ubongo
▫ Villa Palette

17. Family Games
• Introduces players to more complex games and
strategy but are appropriate for all ages
▫ Havoc
▫ Saboteur
▫ Bohnanza
▫ Diamant
▫ Poison
▫ That’s Life
▫ Ingenious
▫ Blokus

18. Euro Games
• Called Euro games because the style of gaming
orginated in Europe, mainly in Germany
• Light strategy games that take some skill and
experience to master

19. Euro Games (light to heavy)
▫ Settlers of Catan
▫ Mystery of the Abbey
▫ Carcassone
▫ Ticket to Ride
▫ Hoity Toity
▫ Manila
▫ Lifeboat
▫ Acquire
▫ El Grande
▫ Ra
▫ Himalaya
▫ Arkham Horror
▫ Puerto Rico
▫ Tigris & Euphrates
▫ Age of Steam
▫ Power Grid
▫ Die Macher

20. War Games
• Tend to be heavier, take longer to play, and are
conflict driven
▫ Diplomacy
▫ Wallenstein
▫ Friedrich
▫ 7 Ages

22. Gaming in the Library
• Teen Lock-Ins
• Special Gaming Days
▫ Table Top Gaming Day
▫ National Gaming Day
▫ Dungeon and Dragons beginners day
• In-house use
▫ Flux
• Intergenerational use in the library

23. In-house use board games in The Edge

25. Circulating Collection
• Taboo
• Clue
• Trouble
• Yahtzee
• Scrabble
• Can You Name Five?
• Chess/Checkers/Backgammon
• Yahtzee
• Jenga
• Life
• CrossWays
• Monopoly
• Connect Four

26. Sample MARC
LDR nrm 22 4500
001 311489
005 20140611145901.0
008 140611s2013||||quc||| | || |||||||
092 ‡ay GAME‡bMON
245 10 ‡aMonopoly :‡bgame ‡h[toy].
500 ‡aInstructions, gameboard, plastic money
holder, 8 player tokens, 2 dice, 1 Speedy die,
32 houses, 12 hotels, money pack, 16 community
chest cards, 16 chance cards, 28 title deed cards.
500 ‡aFor 2-6 players.
520 ‡aAges 8+.
650 0 ‡aGames.

28. What I do When
• Dungeons and Dragons
• Magic: the Gathering
• Munchkin
• Risk
• Settlers of Cataan
• The Resistance
• Clue
• Superfight
• Are You a Werewolf?
• Forbidden Desert
• Every Wednesday night
• Every other Thursday
• Tuesdays
• Saturdays
• International Tabletop Day:
April 11, 2015

32. International TableTop Day

33. International TableTop Day

34. International TableTop Day

35. International TableTop Day

36. Where to get games
• Ask patrons to bring games
• Library budget
▫ Find out how much could be
spent on games to add/build
library's collection
▫ Amazon
• Ask game shops to
donate/sponsor programs
▫ Free promotional items
• Bring your own games
• Board Game Geek for game
rules

37. Types of games
• Require both skill and luck
(Robbins)
• Friendly to both children and
adults (Robbins)
• Attract readers as well as non
readers (Robbins)
• Different games for different
ages
• “Provide an accessible,
friendly and appropriate board
gaming space for all ages and
experience levels.” (Pappas)
• Wil Wheaton's Tabletop for
game ideas

38. Advertise
• Meetup.com to advertise
games (Pappas)
• Social media
• Newspaper
• In house

39. Sources
2014 Global Gaming Stats
http://www.bigfishgames.com/blog/2014-global-gaming-stats-whos-playing-what-and-why/
Gen Con Attributes Record-Breaking 2014 Numbers …
http://www.gencon.com/press/2014recordattendance
Gen Con Corporate Fact Sheet
http://www.gencon.com/press/corporate
Green Bay’s Board-Game Obsession
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-packers-of-catan-green-bays-board-game-obsession-1421346102
North American Hobby Game Market Hits an Estimated $700M
http://venturebeat.com/2014/08/18/north-american-hobby-game-market-hits-an-estimated-
700m/

40. Sources
Scott Nicholson YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/snicholson
Scott Nicholson – Board Games with Scott – Board Games 101
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPi_uNWUJy0
Because Play Matters Game Lab
http://becauseplaymatters.com/
5 Board Games Every Geek Should Have
http://bit.ly/1CrInK8
Teaching Board Games to Two Children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder
http://bit.ly/1D4vfgy

41. Sources
UTILIZING INSTRUCTIONAL GAMES AS AN INNOVATIVE TOOL TO IMPROVE SCIENCE
LEARNING AMONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
http://bit.ly/1JwEqZv
Board Game Geek
www.boardgamegeek.com
Pappas, John. "Board in the Library, Part One." Webjunction. OCLC, 30 Dec. 2013. Web. 18 Mar.
2015. <http://www.webjunction.org/webjuntion/board-in-the-library-part-one.html>.
Rinne, JD. "Host a Family Game Night." @ your library. ALA, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.atyourlibrary.org/connectwithyourkids/game/host-family-game-night>.
Robbins, Brandon. "Wil Wheaton talks tabletop." Library Journal 138.13 (2013): 52. Print.
"The Benefits of Board Games." Scholastic. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/creativity-play/benefits-board-games>.

42. Contacts
Jessica Jacko Barnes
jbarnes@accs.net
765-654-8746
Jessica’s favorite board games are the original
Trivial Pursuit, Twilight Struggle, Agricola, 1960:
The Making of a President, and Settlers of Catan.

43. Contacts
Addalee Jernagan
ajernaga@iupui.edu
765-762-6555
Some of Addie's favorite games include: Risk,
Munchkin, Magic: the Gathering, UNO, and
Chutes and Ladders.