Checked Out? Videogame Programming in U.S. Libraries and Implications for Videogame Literacies

Abstract

Videogames and videogame literacies are an important and growing aspect of education, yet videogaming remains poorly understood and even viewed with suspicion by many who are charged with promoting them. In the case of libraries, such views can lead to insufficient funding and policies that reduce the presence of youth programing that includes videogame play, and, therefore, it is important to understand the factors that support or inhibit videogame programming in libraries. This article presents findings from a national survey of more than 1,000 U.S. librarians in all 50 states to begin to understand the factors that might promote the presence (and absence) of videogame programming; the factors that support and impede the success of such programming; and the literacies that such youth programming might foster. Although this study focuses on videogame programming in libraries, its findings are relevant to anyone who promotes the development of youth literacies.

Videogames in and beyond the L1 classroom

“…Ertmer's (1999) first-and second-order barriers have been used to conceptualize the integration of technology, in general, and the use of videogames in educational spaces, in particular. More specifically, Abrams and Van Eck (2022) explored the state of videogame programming in U.S. libraries and found that many first-order or extrinsic barriers (e.g., funding, hardware, technology access) and second-order or intrinsic barriers (e.g., belief systems, values) affected the uptake of videogame programming in public libraries. In other words, the integration of videogames can be supported or stymied by a variety of factors.…”