Play Super Smash Bros. Brawl in the Library

To anyone doubting the importance of videogames I say: go to the library. And the object is not to read about videogames in the many theory books that not deal with why we play and how videogames influence us. The idea is to play games in the library.

March 22nd, at the New York Public Library, was the first day when the venerable institution presented its "Game On @ the Library!" initiative. Under the somewhat surprised gaze of Simon Guggenheim, who donated significant amounts of money to the New York Public Library, teenage kids and their parents played Burnout 2 and Super Smash Bros. Brawl in the great hall of the building.

Ferriero, who is the director of the New York Public Libraries, declared: "Especially at this pivotal moment in our history, it is so great to have so many people of this age group here in the library, because it foreshadows what life is going to be like around here when we have transformed this building. We want to do a better job of integrating the circulation and research collections, and part of that is becoming more relevant for a younger audience."

The main point of the initiative is to get people back in the libraries, while also creating an archive of games, focusing on those titles that have a significant cultural impact or a clear educational value. The library's program includes at the moment games for the Nintendo, Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation families of game systems. Online PC games like World of Warcraft are the next targets for expansion.

The library system spent around $61,000 to provide the hardware and software necessary to play games in its branches. At least $100,000 was also spent on the games themselves. Some 2,500 copies of more than 90 games are available for circulation. One game can only be taken out of the library for a period of one week and any day from that point on will cost the lender 1 dollar per day.

Now that games are even in the prestigious New York Public Library, can we at last safely say that videogames are mainstream?