Gamification in Libraries

Gamification is undoubtedly a major trend: it was the topic of sessions at both of the previous ALA Annual conferences, has an interest group under LITA, and was mentioned in the last three NMC Horizon reports for higher education. While there is interest in creating games that are both engaging and educational, doing so is challenging and requires great investment. In this column, Kyle Felker relates the experiences of the Grand Valley State University library. His writing not only discusses how libraries can effectively utilize games but also the theory behind them as well. —Editor