Geeky Emphasis Collections - Unite!

Slobuski, T., Robson, D., & Bentley, P. (2017). Arranging the pieces: A survey oflibrary practices related to a tabletop game collection. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 12(1). Retrieved from : https://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/EBLIP/article/view/27785/21244 (Posted on course blog)

This article details a very special emphasis collection that is being more frequently pursued by public, academic, and school libraries around the world: collections of table top games.  The article notes that the practice of tabletop gaming is rising as people of all ages pick up the hobby.  As such, the fact that libraries are responding by creating these collections is a sign that libraries are truly working to meet the expressed needs of their users and potential users.  The article details the number of steps required to effectively execute this special collection.  An effective tabletop game collection requires librarians to understand literature on gaming, become well-versed in available catalogs, and comprehend how to maintain and retain games.  This requires an extensive amount of funding and staff time.  Additionally, there is very little in the way of reputable literature about these collections and there are not any purchase offerings through major publishers, meaning that libraries are fording new ground.  Furthermore, according to the libraries surveyed, game collections require much more programming to advertise than other emphasis collection.  However, this case study of this particular special collection shows that if new collections are truly geared at meeting the needs of users, even if they are completely original in nature, they are possible with the proper amount of work.