The International Games Day Committee is pleased to have the Associazione Italiana Biblioteche join in this yearly event.
The AIB (Associazione Italiana Biblioteche) has officially joined IGD after several Italian libraries, such as Cavriago and Arcade (both northern Italy libraries), participated individually in the past few years.
Gaming at the library is not a new phenomenon in Italy – many libraries have set up spaces, programmes and collections dedicated to games, though until a few years ago the attention was focused exclusively on board games. It is only recently that a few libraries have started thinking about adding video games to their collections and events.
By officially joining this event, the AIB demonstrates its desire to provide greater awareness to organized events and to create a network of information professionals to discuss the value of gaming in libraries, which goes beyond the realm of education and socialization. Furthermore, this group can analyze its marketing potential for an institution that, in the latest years of crisis, has lost both economic resources and political support.
Moreover, the creation of this network will give the AIB the opportunity to compare games and adopted solutions, to evaluate the success of the events in terms of public response, and to experiment with alternatives that would otherwise be difficult to find individually. It provides the chance to meet (both in person and online) and discuss solutions and games that suit the library’s needs.
Interest in International Games Day @ Your Library encouraged AIB to create a blog – https://internationalgamesdayitalia.wordpress.com – as an easy and inclusive way to access information and discussions and a page on Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/igd_italy/international-games-day-2015/ – as a place to share promotional material and event photos. In addition, Asterion, a board game publisher based in Reggio Emilia, donated a great amount of its games to Italian IGD 2015 participants.. Some of these board games, such as DIXIT, will be also used in several libraries abroad during IGD2015. With the exception of Arcade and Cavriago, where video games will be played, all of the other participating Italian libraries will use board games during IGD2015 this year.