Tabletop RPGs @ YOUR Library! (Pt. 1)
When I was growing up and scrimping together money for expensive Dungeons & Dragons books, I always loved getting to borrow some from the library - until they all eventually went missing and no one replaced them. When I started working at a different library, there were a few 4th and 5th edition books of D&D floating around, one or two Pathfinder volumes, but that was it. And any time I mentioned it, I was pointed to one or two articles about the degree of theft with items like that and nothing more was said.
Eventually, I stopped letting them stop me with those articles. I found others (this one is one of my favorites) to counter them with, and created my own flyer that discussed what people can learn from playing tabletop role-playing games like D&D. Goodness knows my ability to speak in front of others is due almost 100% to building confidence on Sunday afternoon D&D sessions during middle school. And I understand that I was lucky - I had parents who played, who taught me how to play, who were happy to buy me my own books and dice for birthdays and Christmas. The hobby can have a high price point, though, and there are other obstacles, from inexperience to censorship, that make it difficult to start playing. I wanted to change that.
Then they put me in charge of a budget and gave me the Young Adult collection. When I proved I could handle that, I asked if I could start a new collection - and got the okay. And so our Tabletop RPG collection was born. And I want to share it - from point A to where I am now - with you, in case you want to get started with a collection of your own in your library!
Welcome to part one, where I will cover purchasing and cataloguing. Part two will cover other materials, display, and possible programs.
Purchasing:
Our collection is a mix of mainstream RPGs and independently printed ones. I have some freedom with our collection to go for more experimental games, plus an extensive background in gaming to draw on, but if you do not, I would suggest making connections with a local gaming store to see if they have had requests for games, or searching online for "top 5" or "top 10" lists that you feel comfortable with - or get an advisory group of gamers together.
My initial purchase was from Amazon, as they are the main carriers of games such as Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder, which are staples in fantasy tabletops. I also bought books I had not heard of but had interesting premises, called End of the World. I tried to purchase few things through Amazon, but our library works through Baker & Taylor, and at the time, the core books were cheaper on Amazon. I have heard Ingram has Pathfinder books, but have not been able to check to see if that is accurate and their pricing.
I had several books I knew I wanted from smaller companies, such as Evil Hat (producers of the FATE system and the popular urban fantasy TRPG The Dresden Files based on the book series of the same name), which were close to full price on Amazon, or simply not available on Amazon. I went searching for several of these titles and came across Indie Press Revolution. I e-mailed the company, asking if they had any coupons I could find to be able to purchase a larger number of the books. They responded very quickly, and offered a standing discount. Most of my newly-purchased books now come from this website, as they have outstanding customer service, good prices, and a great selection. I place a bookplate in each book purchased from here, because I would love to see them get more customers. (I buy my own items from them whenever I can!)
I have also gotten several large donations since the public learned about our collection. Some items were added, some were not, almost always based solely on condition. I sometimes scour used bookstores as well, which is the easiest way I've been able to get World of Darkness materials for the collection.
Be sure to shop around! There are a lot of TRPG booksellers online. If you have any kind of gaming shop nearby, also check with them. They may be able to partner with you to help choose titles, let you know how to get in contact with publishers, and push your collection. (One day, we'll have a gaming shop nearby here...)
And don't forget dice, or whatever a game needs to be played! Dread requires a Jenga tower, Laser Kittens is played with two decks of cards, and dice systems often have quirky dice needs. I purchased several "mixed pound of dice" bags from Amazon, and some that were just d10s (ten-sided dice) or d6s (six-sided dice), as well as specialty FATE dice (though FATE players can use regular sets of 4d6 (four six-sided dice) instead). I separated dice into sets required for each game and bagged them separately. I also have a Jenga tower, several decks of cards, and two special decks of cards for two games. The dice are kept in a drawer at our Reference desks, and there is a cheat sheet of what dice are what and what each game requires for times when I'm not working.
I have spent about $1100 on this collection since December of 2015. We currently have 107 different rule books and 79 collections of dice, cards, and other gaming items.
Preparing and Cataloging
Phew! Okay, so that's what we own. Now for how it makes it into the hands of everyone.
Before I bring a book back to be cataloged, I read reviews and summaries of it, flip through the book myself, and pay careful attention to sections about what you need to play it and the core rules. From that information, I create bookplates that go inside each book. The plates contain the following information: the name of the system, the genre, "readalike" books and movies, the ideal number of players and time spent, basic materials (and if those materials are available for checkout), a summary, and a 1-5 star rating of the rules complexity, story depth, and overall difficulty. This makes it easy for someone just browsing to pick up the game that suits their needs, and makes it easy for my co-workers to help patrons choose books when I'm not around.
Afterwards, I decide whether it's suitable for anyone of any age, I list those as "YA, though they all remain on the same shelves. Each book then also gets a shelf label I designed in the form of a d20 outline and the letters TRPG on green paper. This helps shelvers identify the items easily.
I will start out admitting that our cataloger HATES ME for constantly making him do original records since no one else on our platform has 95% of these titles. Sometimes he is able to find records to base his off of from WorldCat, but often he has to adapt an old TRPG record to the new information and it takes him some time to do so. Each item is cataloged with the call number GAME 793.93, plus the first three letters of the author's last name OR the first three letters of the gaming system. If I get a chance to overhaul this, I would always do the first three letters of the gaming system so all of the game books for one system (we have over a dozen D&D books, and over a dozen Warhammer books) stay together. The items are also cataloged under the subject heading Fantasy Games -- Rules or Fantasy Games -- Handbook.
The accessories are also cataloged, under DICE (DESCRIPTION), CARDS (DESCRIPTION), and JENGA. They are in the "equipment" location with "Ask At Adult Services." All of the dice are kept in a drawer at my public desk, separated out by an old money divider. The description of each set details the number of dice in each set, and they are kept in clear plastic jewelry bags. If a game requires any of these items, the bookplate has an asterisk next to the items and the text states it can be checked out from the library.
To Be Continued
Dun dun dunnnnnn.
Next time on gaming at your library: Samma rambles more! I'll be going over some of the extra steps I take (such as having print-outs of the character sheets handy), more information on why role-playing is such an important skill to foster, how I display our collection, and possible programs. Please stay tuned!
This will be a link when I finish writing that blog post!
Update
I AM SO BAD AT WRITING LATELY. My apologies. In the meanwhile, some of that information is included in this vlog!
