You can start a gaming program without spending a dime

Video gaming is becoming more and more mainstream every day. It’s definitely an accepted part of library programming, and game clubs are becoming part of school extracurricular activities. If you want to start a program through your school library, it’s likely that your administration will be happy to approve it. However, they will probably inform you that there is no money in the budget to fund it. That’s no reason that you can’t have a thriving, fun program anyway. The following tips will help you start a gaming program without having a dime in your account.

Equipment

Your initial equipment is going to come from two places—you or your students. What game system do you have at home? Whatever it is, that will become the centerpiece of your first gaming event. If you don’t own a system, this is the perfect excuse to go buy that Wii or Xbox 360 you’ve wanted. One console is not going to cut it to run a game club, so you have a couple of choices open to you at this point. Ask the faculty if anyone will bring in their console. Some of your colleagues may be reluctant to loan their equipment, but others will be really excited and not only let you borrow their equipment, but come play too! Students love to play against their teachers! Using this method, we managed to get three Wii’s from our faculty for our first game night at Bloom Trail High School in Chicago Heights, IL.

Another strategy is to solicit the students participating in the club to bring their own games and equipment. Tell them that you’re willing to sponsor the club, but there are no funds and, if they want to play, they will have to bring the equipment. This approach has a few benefits. It guarantees that the young people want to play the games that you have—after all, they brought them. It also gets the students directly involved and creates a group that can assume leadership positions in your new club.

However, there are a few potential problems with this method. If you are relying on a student to bring a key piece of equipment or game, have a backup in case they forget or get sick that day. Also, you need to know your games. If a student volunteers to bring Dead or Alive 4 or Gears of War, you should be aware that the content in those games is almost sure to upset your administration. Check the ratings of all the games you plan to use at the Entertainment Software Rating Board (esrb.org), and if in doubt, go to a Web site like IGN (ign.com) and read the reviews so you know what you’re dealing with.

One more word of caution—if you are relying on borrowed equipment, labeling is crucial. Nothing will make your equipment supply dry up more quickly than someone losing their expensive console or game. Encourage the students to use permanent marker to write their name on their equipment before they bring it in. Even then, you will need to keep a role of masking tape and a marker on hand to label every console, game, and controller you use. Getting them back to the right people at the end of your event should be a main priority.

Donations

Borrowing will get you started, but in the long run you’ll want your own equipment. To do that, you’re going to have to do a little begging. Specifically, you’ll want to ask people to donate their last generation equipment as they upgrade. As people buy Xbox 360s, Wiis, and PS-3s, their old Xboxes, GameCubes, and PS-2s gather dust on the bottom shelf of the entertainment center. Getting these is your goal. While your students might want to play the newest games, that’s just not practical with your nonexistent budget. However, there are some great games you can play on these last generation consoles that will keep them happy as you grow your game group.

While you should always try to keep the word out there that you are looking for donated equipment, December holiday time is when you should beg your hardest. Many of your colleagues will be buying new systems for their youngsters and will be looking for a way to clear out their old ones. Your students are also likely to get new equipment for the holidays, so let them know you’ll gladly take their old gear for the club. Don’t pass up any equipment; even if you can’t get a whole system, you are going to want as many controllers as you can get your hands on, so take anything that you can get. As an incentive, don’t forget to offer your teachers or the students’ parents a receipt on your school letterhead that they can use for their taxes.

The Games

When you manage to get a GameCube or two, your club members can play Mario Cart Double Dash and Super Smash Brothers Melee which are almost identical to their popular Wii versions. The original Xbox is also an excellent console for tournament games. If your school has no objections to first person shooters, Halo 2 is a fantastic game, and with very little technical know-how you can network four Xboxes for either a competition between four teams of four players or a sixteen player free for all. Very few students have the space and equipment for that size of a match at home, so this kind of event is a great draw. The Xbox also has a wide variety of sports games available and two- or three-year-old versions of Madden Football or NBA games can be purchased for less than $5 at stores such as GameStop.

The PS-2 is still supported by Sony with new games, and is an excellent platform for music games like Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and Singstar. If your students complain about the older games, just explain that they are free to bring in their newer equipment or help you raise money to upgrade—it’s a great motivator!

Tournaments

If you are able, charge a nominal fee for tournaments or open game nights. We usually charge $2 for open game night, $3 for a tournament, and $5 for a semester-long league. We give out about half the take from a tournament or league in prizes and use the rest to fund the club. The monetary prizes don’t have to be big; it’s more the satisfaction of beating all the other players that really counts. Typically, our winners will receive a $5 GameStop gift card or free entry into our next tournament. Charging will allow you to have students that are committed to showing up and help you build a small bank account to start purchasing some essential equipment.

Publicity

To make your gaming event successful, it’s important to publicize the event to get the biggest turnout. Getting the word out with zero budget is easy. Use your local resources: students, the school news channel, and daily announcements. Students in the club are your best marketers and will get the word out quickly within their circle of friends. But it is also important to reach out to those that may not be your “typical” gamers. To accomplish this, we utilized our in-school news channel, “Blazer Broadcast,” and we made daily announcements over the P.A. system. Don’t forget about the power of print publicity. We created attractive flyers with eye-catching phrases and placed them in the highest traffic areas of the school building. Pick one area in the library as your registration desk and let the gamers know that they can always get up-to-date information on club events there. This also allows you to have pre-registration to better plan how many systems you need to borrow for your event.

Once you use these techniques to get started, setting up a tournament is easy. If you’re still unsure, check out Gamers… in the Library!: The Why, What, and How of Videogame Tournaments for All Ages (American Library Association, 2007) by Eli Neiburger. The book is a great resource for establishing a gaming program in your library. Getting started is the hardest part of establishing a successful game club and can be discouraging at times. However, as your program grows and becomes successful, you will receive more support from students, staff, and administration. Hey, maybe you’ll be lucky enough to get some dough!