Students bring back gaming space after year of inactivity

After a year away, a library for students to rent and play games has returned to campus.

The Game Library, which re-opened last semester, is a place where students can come to check out or play console and computer games with their friends.

The library was run by Games Studies professor Monica Evans through her office before she was forced to give up her collection when she went on maternity leave. After a year of inactivity, students decided to bring the library back in the fall semester, asking ATEC Professor Michael Breault to be the sponsor.

“It’s just a cool thing to offer students,” he said. “It’s a place where they can come to play games. Sometimes (students) have financial concerns and they can’t buy all these cool games, so we have a whole bunch of Steam (computer) games, console games that students can come and play. It’s also a resource where students can come borrow games from us.”

Breault said the library is quite popular already, particularly among ATEC students. Approximately 100 students and faculty members visit the library every week. While a majority of the students come to challenge their friends on the available console games, some are beginning to check out the games as well.

With the growing popularity of the library, students have formed the Games and Media Association to formally rent rooms to have game nights, host charitable events and properly advertise for the Game Library.

“The fall (semester) was (the organization’s) soft launch and it kind of spread by word-of-mouth,” Breault said. “But I don’t know if it has gone beyond ATEC students, so we’d like to reach out to the university as a whole. (The library) is open to any student or any staff member.”

Students can donate to the library as well. A majority of the items currently available were donated. Similarly, Breault would also like to move the Game Library to another room on the first floor of the ATEC building.

“We sometimes get up to 16 people in the room and it can turn into quite the sweatbox,” he said. “There’s a room on the first floor that’s usually empty and much bigger that I’d like to get. We’ve been looking to get Dance Dance Revolution set up, but our current room is too small.”

The Game Library is located on the third floor in the ATEC building and is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays.