Board game night at a small university library has grown in popularity and provides several benefits. It draws visitors to campus which is appreciated by administration. It offers students an intellectual alternative to typical sports and arts opportunities and helps library staff build relationships with students. The event provides a non-threatening way for students who avoid the library to engage with it.

1. Cardboard Conundrum:
Why a Small University Library
Has Grown a Monthly Board
Game Night
Philip Hendrickson, Director of Library Services
Concordia University Nebraska
phendrickson@cune.edu

2. Board games are back!

3. Board games are back!

4. Board games are back!

5. A word on words
 Formerly called parlor games
 Board and card games
 Tabletop games
 Hobby games
 Modern games
 Euro games
 Designer games

6. Board games are back… So what?
Problem solving
Logic
Subject skills
(Geography)
And…FUN!

7. Video games are more popular, but…
F2S
vs.
F2F

9. What makes this a renaissance?

10. Easy to learn
Quality components

11. Player interaction
Definite length
Points, not player elimination
Meaningful decisions

12. Game nights at Concordia

13. Benefits of game night
o In our small town, game night offers a fresh activity for students, faculty and friends.
o Game night draws visitors to campus, which the administration always appreciates.
o It provides a fun, intellectual alternative to the typical sports and arts opportunities on campus.
o It helps library staff build informal relationships with students, which reduces their reluctance
to ask us for library assistance in the future.
o It offers a talking point during recruiting tours – allowing librarians to demonstrate to future
freshman that we are approachable and friendly.
o It is a non-threatening opportunity to draw into the library students who otherwise avoid us.

14. Library Lingo: Collection Development
www.BoardGameGeek.com
www.DiceTower.com
www.CasualGameRevolution.com

15. Podcasts, Blogs and YouTube Channels
MeepleTown
Opinionated Gamers
Games for Educators
Rahdo Runs Through
Drive-Thru Reviews
Watch It Played
Starlit Citadel
… and so on.
The Dice Tower
The Secret Cabal
Cardboard Jungle
Games in Schools and Libraries
Blue Peg, Pink Peg
Garrett’s Games and Geekiness
Rolling Dice & Taking Names
Shut Up and Sit Down
The Daily Worker Placement
www.BoardGameLinks.com

16. …and Books, of course!
Teaching with games:
 Mayer, Brian, and Christopher Harris. 2010. Libraries got game: aligned learning
through modern board games. Chicago: American Library Association.
 Harris, Christopher, Patricia Harris, and Brian Mayer. 2015. Teaching the underground
railroad through play. New York: Rosen Classroom Professional Resources. [Part of a
series of game-based lesson plan books.]
Board gaming culture:
 Woods, Stewart. 2012. Eurogames: the design, culture and play of modern European
board games. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co.
 Green, Lorien. 2012. Going cardboard: a board game documentary. United States: T-
Cat Productions. [DVD]

17. Where to buy games…
Friendly Local Game Store … maybe
or Amazon, of course.

18. Image Credits
All pictures taken by presenter except:
Clark, Kevin, “Green Bay’s Board-Game Obsession” in Wall Street Journal
(Jan 15, 2015) viewed May 26, 2015 at http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-
packers-of-catan-green-bays-board-game-obsession-1421346102
"Monopoly board on white bg" by fir0002/flagstaffotos. Licensed under
GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons -
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Monopoly_board_on_white_bg.j
pg
"1911 Ford Model T Touring" by I, Lglswe. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via
Wikimedia Commons -
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1911_Ford_Model_T_Touring.jpg
“Bentley Continental GT” by nakhon100. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Flickr
- https://www.flickr.com/photos/8058098@N07/14227691573
“Ticket to Ride cover” by Fawkes. [Circle added for emphasis.]
https://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/38668/
"Children playing video games in a video game trailer" by Gamesingear.
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons -
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Children_playing_video_games_i
n_a_video_game_trailer.jpg
"Carcassonne Miples" by Júlio Reis (User:Tintazul). Licensed under CC BY-SA
2.5 via Wikimedia Commons -
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carcassonne_Miples.jpg
“BGG Logo”. http://www.boardgamegeek.com
“Dice Tower Logo”. http://www.dicetower.com/game-podcast/dice-tower
“Casual Game Revolution Banner”. http://casualgamerevolution.com
“Cool Stuff Inc Logo”. http://www.coolstuffinc.com
“Miniature Market Logo”. http://www.miniaturemarket.com
“Funagain Logo”. http://www.funagain.com
“Carcassonne” by Sampsa Ritvanen (User: saksi). Licensed under CC BY-NC
3.0 via BoardGameGeek -
https://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1320302/carcassonne

19. Also see “Cardboard Conundrum” in the
February 2015 issue of Nebraska Libraries,
at http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/neblib/9/