San Mateo County libraries now offering video games

“We’re really format agnostic,” said Deputy Director Carine Risley. “However people want to participate in the world and support their own growth and creativity and interest, is really what the library is responsible for sourcing.” 

Video games often get a bad reputation. Many think best case, they are a pastime of little value, and worst case, they cause young kids — particularly boys — to become isolated and exposed to violent influences. 

Such concern has been mitigated over the years, Risley said, and research is showing just how valuable video games can be, and the variety of forms in which they present. From addressing the effects of loneliness through cooperate play to educational concepts promoting quick critical thinking, video games are another avenue for how library members “want to enjoy their life.”

“There’s so much research on the positive effects of gaming, just as there is with reading, with everything from problem solving, attention and creating, critical thinking skills,” Risley said. “There’s many, many benefits and we trust our community members to make the right choices for themselves.” 

A similar hesitation toward comic books rose to attention when libraries first introduced them, Risley said, with some believing they “weren’t real books.” 

“All reading is good reading, and we’re not going to intervene in the quality of what you’re engaging in,” Risley said. 

The video game inventory was reviewed professionally, considering the educational value, general popularity, and cost, Risley said. The selection ranges in maturity levels and difficulty, with available options geared toward everyone from young children to adults. 

The library offers games from Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Animal Crossing to Halo and Resident Evil 4, and although they range in age-appropriate ratings, the library is not limiting any of their members from what they are able to check out. 

Aligning with the American Library Association, the San Mateo County Libraries opposed censorship of any kind, including video games, Risley said. 

“You never know what you’re going to find between the pages of a book,” Risley said. “We absolutely honor parents’ right and responsibility to oversee what their children access in the library and that’s the sacred relationship between parent and child.” 

This is not the first approach to expanding a catalog of “things” to enhance people’s experience of the world, Risley said. The libraries also offer sewing machines, karaoke machines, binoculars and park passes, to name a few of the items for checkout.

“There continue to be more options for people in how we engage in our creativity and learning,” Risley said. “It’s important for us to provide as many of those avenues as we can.” 

Video games and consoles can be checked out for the library’s standard checkout period of three weeks. With a library card, “you’re able to check out anything that you wish within our spaces,” Risley said. 

“We are a space where every single person should feel comfortable and feel like there’s something for them,” Risley said. “That’s quite something to balance and hold ourselves accountable to and we really strive to do that.”

ana@smdailyjournal.com

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