I’m excited about Tom Bruno’s new book, Gaming Programs For All Ages at the Library. Not only is Tom a most excellent, community focused librarian, but he’s also one hell of a gamer and he knows his stuff. I couldn’t think of a better person to be writing about gaming in libraries than Tom.

I got a chance to read through the book before it came out and let me tell you, this is a great resource to have if you’re looking into all things gaming at your library or even if you already have some gaming programs and collections in place. What this book does best is inspire the reader to keep trying, to keep growing, and to remember that gaming events really cater to a unique audience in your community. That’s one of the qualities of what great libraries do…they notice how they can reach out to everyone in their community. Gamers are a part of our communities, and Tom’s book will help you not only reach out and get them to the library but keep them there for years to come. I couldn’t recommend this book enough.

You can purchase a copy of Gaming Programs For All Ages at the Library by Tom Bruno here. Better yet, if you’re reading this here’s a promo discount code for 30% off of the book: RFLANDF30 (EDIT 6/5/18 this code only works in the USA and I will update later if/when I have an international code)

Here’s the official details on the book:

Gaming Programs for All Ages at the Library: A Practical Guide for Librarians
by Tom Bruno

Join librarian and lifelong gamer Tom Bruno on his quest to bring gaming to his library community, from bringing back classic board games such as Fireball Island to offering free play in the latest virtual reality games using the Oculus Rift or the HTC Vive!

Gaming Programs for All Ages at the Library shows you how you can launch and support gaming programming in your library, including:

• how to make the case for library gaming with your administration
• how to acquire and loan gaming materials (whether or not you have the budget for them!)
• how to publicize your library gaming programming
• how to incorporate other library units into the gaming experience.

Everything from acquisitions to budgeting to circulation is covered in this practical guide — you’ll also learn about promotion, assessment, and experiential learning opportunities.

PLEASE NOTE: this isn’t a promoted post or anything like that. I don’t do those. I will probably get a free copy of the book at some point and that’s it.I’m doing this post for three reasons:

1. I like Tom. I always have. He has a good and positive message at all times and he brings something good into this world.
2. I love video games in libraries, and the more we talk about it and the more do it the better it will become. This books helps that mission.
3. Along with Jenny Levine and Scott Nicholson, Tom names me as being part of what he calls The Dynamic Trio of Library Video Gaming in the book, and he also quotes some of my publications on video games and libraries and talks about how there was once a Ms. Pac Man machine on The 2nd Floor of the Chattanooga Public Library. That was very kind of him. It was also very neat to be mentioned alongside these really great people.