International Games Month 2023 is fast approaching, and Indiana has already played a big role in shaping this year’s activities! The annual November event is presented by the American Library Association’s Games and Gaming Round Table. Not only am I the chair of the committee again this year, but I am currently serving as the Round Table president. I am joined this year on the committee by Matthew Stephenson from Pendleton – who also serves as a member-at-large for GameRT – and Jennifer Taylor from Hagerstown, who is the GameRT treasurer. I also want to thank Danielle Acton of the Hamilton East Public Library who will be joining me for a webinar about IGM on Oct. 11. Those reading after Oct. 11, 2023 should be able to find the webinar on the archived webinar section of the Indiana State Library’s continuing education website, or in the playlist on YouTube with all the games related webinars.

What is IGM? Well, it is a celebration of games and gaming in libraries. GameRT encourages libraries to play, talk about, teach, promote and even create games during November each year. We work to connect libraries and their patrons with free resources that can found on our website. We also strive to get sponsors to give games away to libraries. While the deadline has passed to be registered for the giveaways of physical games, there is still time to register for the drawings of discount codes from some of our sponsors. If you are interested in registering, you can use the following form.

This year we will also be announcing a new initiative during International Games Month, the creation of a Library Gaming Hall of Fame and an award for games that are inducted into this hall of fame! I know how Hoosiers love a good sports hall of fame debate, so hopefully this will generate good discussion. The Round Table is looking to create a list of top tier games for use in libraries. We will be calling on everyone to submit nominations to this hall of fame, so stay tuned for all of the exciting details.

This post was written by George Bergstrom, Southwest regional coordinator, Professional Development Office, Indiana State Library.