Chapter Three: A Tale of Two Library Videogame Spaces

The qualitative research informing this book includes formal and informal interviews with librarians and focal youth in library videogame spaces, as well as hundreds of hours of in situ game play observation. We collected data using naturalistic methods rather than experimental approaches in contrived settings. Both studies were conducted with approval from university Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and each respective site’s public library director(s). To obscure the identity of the libraries and research participants, we use pseudonyms and we approximate statistical data. Youth and librarian participant feedback is featured with permission from the participant and, for youth patrons, from a parent/guardian as well.