OLYMPIA — The Washington State Library, in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s Wisconsin State Library Agency, has been awarded a $249,500 National Leadership Grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for developing games-based library services.
The Washington State Library’s “Empowering & Innovating Games-based Library Services: National Best Practices for Gaming Collections & Programming” project will span three years and will include collaboration with partners like the Seattle nonprofit Game to Grow, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Olympia gaming studio and workshop Heart of the Deernicorn. The partnership will develop and disseminate a digital toolkit to guide libraries in implementing games-based services.
“This is an exciting opportunity for library patrons across our state to engage with a broad range of games-based activities,” Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said. “The work funded by this grant program will create a blueprint for activating tabletop gaming spaces in public libraries that can be used nationwide.”
Washington State Librarian Sara Jones echoed this sentiment.
“We are so thankful for the support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services,” Jones said. “This project will provide libraries with recommendations for equitable and accessible games-based services that will greatly benefit the community.”
This project builds on an ongoing initiative by the Washington State Library to support tabletop role-playing games in public, tribal, and community college libraries. This year, WSL awarded 52 grants to Washington libraries to implement or enhance tabletop role-playing game programs. In March, Wizards of the Coast donated 75 Dungeons & Dragons box sets to the Washington State Library to provide every library system and institutional library in the state with a free gaming kit for patron use. Seattle-based game company Break from Reality Games donated grip mats for distribution to Washington libraries.
"One of the key ways to develop creative minds and ensure students truly learn is to meet learners where they are," Wisconsin State Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Jill Underly said. "I am thankful to IMLS for this funding, which will allow our libraries to serve and engage learners of all ages."
“The partnership with the library system is a perfect next step for Game to Grow's vision of a better world through better games,” Game to Grow Founder and Executive Director Adam Davis said. “In the current epidemic of loneliness and isolation, games in libraries may just be the antidote.”
This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services LG-256639-OLS-24. The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation's libraries and museums. We advance, support, and empower America's museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development. IMLS envisions a nation where individuals and communities have access to museums and libraries to learn from and be inspired by the trusted information, ideas, and stories they contain about our diverse natural and cultural heritage. To learn more, visit www.imls.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Washington’s Office of the Secretary of State oversees areas within state government including managing state elections, registering corporations and charities, and governing the use of the state flag and state seal. The office operates the State Archives and the State Library, documents extraordinary stories in Washington’s history through Legacy Washington, and administers the Combined Fund Drive for charitable giving by state employees and the Productivity Board state employee suggestion program. The Office of the Secretary of State also oversees the state’s Address Confidentiality Program to help protect survivors of crime.