Research Guides: International Games Week: About International Games Week

"International Games Week is an initiative run by volunteers from around the world to reconnect communities through their libraries around the educational, recreational, and social value of all types of games."

American Library Association, International Games Week

International Games Week @ Columbia State

Columbia State is a proud participant in the American Library Association’s International Games Week.

We play the following types of games:

Board Games (Monopoly, Scrabble, Risk, etc.)
Card Games (Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon, etc.)
Miniatures Games (Warhammer, Star Wars X-Wing, Guild Ball, Battletech, etc.)
Role Playing Games (Dungeons & Dragons, 7th Sea, etc.)

Please join us for this event every fall semester, and bring your game face!

History of International Games Week

"National Games Day was started by Jenny Levine and Scott Nicholson in 2007. This free event grew out of an idea to attempt to set a world’s record for the number of people playing the same game at the same time at libraries around the world. National Games Day became International Games Day (IGD) in 2012 and International Games Week (IGW) in 2017. It has grown to include events on all seven continents. Even today, it is still raising awareness of games and gaming in libraries to publishers and the public. This event has become a valuable way for libraries and their communities to join together and engage in play each year."

Games and Gaming Round Table, American Library Association, IGW History

Volunteers from the following organizations run activities for International Games Week:

American Library Association
"The American Library Association (ALA) is the oldest and largest library association in the world. Founded on October 6, 1876 during the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, the mission of ALA is 'to provide leadership for the development, promotion and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.'"
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."
Games and Gaming Round Table (GameRT)
"The Games and Gaming Round Table (GameRT) of the American Library Association provides a venue for librarians interested in the use of games and gaming in libraries of all types a place to gather and share. GameRT was formed in 2011, replacing and extending the pre-existing gaming member interest group. As a round table, GameRT is built around our shared passion for games and the use of gaming within libraries. With members from all types of libraries, GameRT encompasses a wide variety of viewpoints, situations, and user types."
L’Associazione Italiana Biblioteche
"The Italian professional librarian association with the goal of promoting library services and recognition of the library profession in Italy."
Nordic Game Week
"Nordic Game Day 2015 is a cooperation between the Nordic Libraries working with computer games and the Nordic Game Institute. This event became Nordic Game Week in 2017. Their 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 this week. 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."

The following companies sponsor International Games Week:

12 orbits
"12 orbits is the only game for up to 12 players at once, no matter what you play on.
All you need is a single keyboard, tablet, gamepad, or even smartphone."
Boxhead Craft
"BoxHead Craft is the world’s only manufacturer of blank box heads for kids to design, decorate and play. Kids happily abandon the console to craft and enjoy imaginative play."
Cheapass Games
"Cheapass Games is small but mighty tabletop game publisher based out of Seattle, WA. We publish free, cheap, and deluxe games."
Chess in Schools and Communities
"Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC) is a UK charity which aims to improve children’s educational outcomes and foster their social development by introducing them to the game of chess. We teach chess in over 300 schools whilst supporting the game in 400 more, and organise a world-leading chess event, the London Chess Classic. We work exclusively in the state sector, prioritising areas of the greatest deprivation, giving every child the chance to realise their full potential."
Club Minecraft
"Club Minecraft hosts Minecraft LAN parties every 8 to 12 weeks on Saturdays from 11am-4pm and is a great place for kids to meet and play with each other and learn from one another. Club Minecraft offers arguably the best Minecraft experience in the UK."
Looney Labs
"Our mission is to create fun. More specifically, we create innovative, attractive, and above all, really fun parlor games (i.e. non-electronic card and board games) that can be enjoyed by adults and children alike. We believe parlor games not only provide entertainment and friendly competition, but also bring people together and create worthwhile shared experiences. Game-playing provides involvement and interaction, things we need more of in our increasingly passive society."
OnePlay
"OnePlay is a leading digital gaming subscription service. OnePlay offers a digital subscription service, where users have access to download and play 2.000+ premium games for PC and Android devices."
Paizo Publishing
"Paizo Inc. is a leading publisher of fantasy roleplaying games, accessories, board games, and novels."
Peachstate Hobby Distribution, LLC
"PHD exists to provide quality gaming and hobby products, through a well built distribution network, at competitve wholesale prices, to retail stores worldwide while providing a fun and rewarding work experience for all PHD employees."
Stuff by Bez
"I create games that people have fun playing. Games that are worth your time and money, that impact your life in a positive way, even if that's just making you laugh and smile."
vested interest games
"vested interest is an indie game studio in Gainesville, Florida. The team is comprised of designer/artist/programmer Jonathan Yuhas and designer/writer Josh Leeper."