Building Community through Games and Gaming @ your library Nov. 15, 2014 #IGD14

CHICAGO — International Games Day (IGD) @ your library is an initiative run by volunteers from around the world and hosted by the American Library Association, in collaboration with Nordic Game Day and the Australian Library and Information Association, to reconnect communities through their libraries around the educational, recreational and social value of all types of games. On Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014, libraries around the world will showcase gaming programs and services in support of IGD14. This year marks our 7th annual event.

With over 1,100 libraries signed up already this year, 2014 may prove to be one of the largest IGDs yet! Libraries will decide how and what they play, but every participant will have a great opportunity to get out of the house and play together at their local library. This year we are repeating some of our well-loved worldwide events, but have added in the new as well.

The Global Gossip Game will be circling the globe again this year with 79 libraries on five different continents. During this game these libraries pass a phrase from library to library. At the end of the day, the beginning and ending phrase are matched, and a few days later a report of all the changes it went through on the way is published, to everyone’s delight.

This year the Ann Arbor (Michigan) District Library is leading the week-long Minecraft Hunger Games tournament, open to libraries of all types, all over the world. Each library becomes a “District” whose players may be chosen at the reaping as representatives in a series of PvP survival matches inside a Minecraft World. Districts with the highest points will go on to an international tournament.

Through the generous donations from International Games Day sponsors, this year registered libraries will receive the access to GameTable Online and a free copy of Golden Sky Stories from Starline Publishing. The first 500 libraries to register received donations from Konami, Looney Labs, Paizo, Steve Jackson Games and USAopoly in the United States. Australian libraries received games from Good Games. These donations are invaluable to libraries beginning and expanding their games collections.

To find out your closest library participating in IGD, check the map on our website. If your local library isn't a participant, we have suggestions for ways game lovers can get involved or start your local participation.

About the American Library Association

The American Library Association is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 55,000 members. Its mission is to promote the highest quality library and information services and public access to information. For more information on the American Library Association please visit ala.org.

About the Australian Library and Information Association

The Australian Library and Information Association is the national professional organisation for the Australian library and information services sector. Together we seek to empower the profession through the development, promotion and delivery of quality library and information services to the nation, through leadership, advocacy and mutual professional support. For more information on the Australian Library and Information Association please visit alia.org.au

About Nordic Game Day

Nordic Game Day 2014 is a cooperation between the Nordic Libraries working with computer games and the Nordic Game Institute. The goal is to have public libraries all over the Nordic region put extra focus on games as a medium – both physical board games and digital games – for just one day. This is to show the patrons and the world that games are an established medium that belongs in the libraries now and in the future. For more information about Nordic Game Day please visit nordicgameday.wordpress.com.

Global Gossip Game

The Global Gossip Game is an annual game of Gossip (also known as Telephone and Broken Telephone), the game where each participant whispers a phrase to the next. As the phrase is passed from person to person, it mutates in interesting ways. The Global Gossip Game, which was first held on International Games Day @ your library in 2012, takes this a step further, passing the phrase from library to library between games. For more information about this event please visit the website at globalgossipgame.com.

Sponsors and Donations

This year we have been incredibly fortunate to have the following supporters providing donated games for libraries to expand or start their gaming collection.

About GameTable Online

GameTable Online Inc. has been hosting quality strategy board games on the Internet since 2003 at www.gametableonline.com. With 29 game titles ranging from war games like Axis & Allies to elegant "Eurogames" such as Tigris & Euphrates, and classics like chess and backgammon, GTO has become the Internet center for strategy gaming. In 2012 GTO expanded into the world of roleplaying games with the launch of RPG Table Online, a virtual tabletop that enables traditional RPGs to be played via the internet. RPG Table Online can be found at www.rpgtableonline.com.

About Good Games (Australia)

Good Games is Australia’s largest group of dedicated gaming environments with all the latest hobby game products. We host all the latest tournaments and events and have the room to suit whatever game you want to play. Our extended opening hours, central locations, and online store means that we'll be around, day or night. Drop by any time! Visit us at goodgames.com.au for more information or to find your nearest store.

About Konami

Konami is a Japanese developer of trading cards, toys, anime, tokusatsu, and video games. They are famous for Castlevania, Contra, Dance Dance Revolution, Yu-Gi-Oh! and many other games. Konami’s Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game was launched in 1999 and was named the top selling card game by Guinness World Records in 2009. Konami can be found at konami.com.

About Looney Labs (United States and Canada)

The company was founded in 1997 by Kristin & Andrew Looney, a husband and wife team that gave up successful careers as aerospace engineers (they met while working at NASA) to pursue their hobby business full time...  they could tell early on the true hit potential this little card game Fluxx had, so they took the jump off the cliff and quit their day jobs, so they could dedicate all their energy to making and promoting Andy's games. Read about OUR HISTORY on these pages... for even more details, you can poke around in the archives of our BLOGS - we have been creating cool stuff and talking about it online since the very early days of the internet - please enjoy your journey through our many web pages. To learn more about Looney Labs visit their website at looneylabs.com.

About Ravensburger

Newton, NH-based Ravensburger (www.ravensburger.com) is the U.S. subsidiary of Ravensburger Spieleverlag GmbH, a German toy and game manufacturer with a 129-year history of tradition.  Founded in Ravensburg, Germany in 1883, Ravensburger is a leading producer of toys loved the world over and celebrated for its meticulous commitment to detail, high production standards and superior quality control.  In addition to Ravensburger-branded puzzles, games and arts & crafts, the company is the exclusive distributor of WOW Preschool Toys and holds licenses for such well-known brands as Chuggington™, Thomas and Friends™, Tinga Tinga Tales™, The Hobbit™, Moshi Monsters™ and more.

About Simply Fun

SimplyFun, LLC produces interactive and educational games designed for learning and connecting. SimplyFun products help children from toddlers to teens develop communication, math and science skills, express creativity, collaborate with others and enhance their critical thinking. With more than 90 award-winning products that support the needs of today’s kids, parents and teachers, SimplyFun games are recognized repeatedly for their unique and easy to learn concepts, interactive components and specific skill building features. To learn more about Simply Fun visit their website at simplyfun.com.

About Starline Publishing

Star Line Publishing is an independent publisher of unique tabletop role-playing games and other curiosities. Our goal is to bring you quality games that aren’t quite like anything you’ve seen before, a mixture of translated Japanese games and our own original titles. To learn more about Starline Publishing visit their website at starlinepublishing.com.

About Steve Jackson Games

Steve Jackson Games, based in Austin, Texas, has been publishing games, game books, and magazines since 1980. Its best-selling game is Munchkin, with well over 5 million copies of the games and supplements in print worldwide. Other top sellers are GURPS (the Generic Universal RolePlaying System), Zombie Dice, and Illuminati. Past hits have included Car Wars and Toon. Steve's very first game, Ogre, originally released in 1977, drew almost a million dollars' worth of Kickstarter support in 2012 for a super-deluxe edition, which was released in late 2013. For more about Steve Jackson Games, visit us at sjgames.com.

About USAopoly

USAopoly is a leading developer and manufacturer of board games and puzzles. We’ve been producing the world’s most beloved games “with a twist,” under license from Hasbro, since 1994. USAopoly is serious about fun and games!. Our goal is to show our passion through each and every game we make. To learn more about USAopoly visit their website at usaopoly.com.