Nearly everyone has played some form of tabletop game in their life, whether dice, board, or card games. Indeed, the archeological record shows humans have been playing games for at least 4000 years and have been an important socialization tool throughout this history. (Murray, H.J.R., 1952). As institutions that assemble artifacts of culture for future generations, libraries can and should include games in their collections. Indeed, some libraries have supported games and play for over a century, first documented when a chess club met at a library in San Francisco in the mid-1800’s (Nicholson, 2013). The early 20th century saw the emergence of toy libraries, established to support families in need by lending toys, board games, and other realia that support play (Moore, 1995). Today, more and more libraries are including tabletop games in their collections. In this session you will learn more about the history of games and their inclusion in library collections. You will also learn how tabletop/physical games can remain relevant and even thrive in our increasingly digital culture. Games and play are usually the first way humans and animals learn, so by understanding and engaging with the history of games participants may better conceive how games can fit into their teaching.
This session will be primarily a talk/lecture as I would like to propose it as an ignite session. Attendees will learn some about the general history of games and culture and how they have been included in education/library sessions. I imagine it to be about 2/3rd general tabletop game history and the last third about their relationship with libraries/education. They will have a better understanding of how games have been part of human culture for longer than the codex and how they can have a place in education. To comment on reviewers – I do not plan on covering gamification and only clicked that tag because I am forced to click 3
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With the Dice in the Library: Tabletop Games and Culture
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