10 games rated for older audiences that should be accessible to kids through the public library
Part of the library’s role is to make books that are in some way controversial available to the public. As media preferences change this role evolves and puts games in the same category. While it makes sense to launch a collection with games that are considered suitable for all ages, eventually, for the collection to be relevant to its users, it needs to include games that may cause controversy, but that are nonetheless well designed and meaningful to their users.
This is a list of games that have been rated Teen or Mature by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) that can be meaningful, or just plain fun, to young users and that we believe should be made accessible.
Games are a burgeoning medium for the public library. They are a way to draw new users and to encourage literacy in both reading and technology. The Pickering Public Library embraces this perspective and has been developing its video game collection for over five years. In that time it has come to hold in-library video game events and to circulate video games to its users. According to Elizabeth DeMarco and Randy Jarvis from the PPL (in a recent discussion during the Ontario Library Association Super Conference 2011) both of these strategies have been working well, attracting new users to the library and creating a community among gaming youth within the library walls. One of the most successful events to be held at the library was a Halo competition that attracted kids from ages 11 to 18, despite the fact that Halo is rated Mature. This event required signed permission forms from young attendees and drew no complaints from parents.
At times the ESRB ratings differ greatly from its European counterpart, Pan European Game Information (PEGI) ratings, whose rating system contains more categories and allows for finer differences between suggested age restrictions. While the ESRB works to enforce the ratings it hands down to games by legally obligating game creators to make the rating visible on packaging and working with retailers to “support their store policies pertaining to the sale or rental of Mature-rated games to minors” and to “help educate and train store associates and employees with regard to the rating system,” it is our belief that libraries should not concern themselves with this rating system and rather look directly at the content of the title and user feedback found online and within their own client base to find quality games. The PPL, for example, does not choose or organize its game collection based on ratings and does not dictate who can borrow a game based on their age. To date, the library has not received any formal complaints about this policy.
We advocate that, in line with Freedom to Read Week which looks at how the Canadian public’s right to read is threatened by censorship, the Toronto Public Library should take the same approach to its game collection. By creating events around games such as the titles we suggest within this blog, it can open the minds of its users, thus making the TPL a hub for parents and children to evaluate games and discuss their themes together.
