Borrowed Laptops and Open Space – Minecraft Club @ the Library
By Sharon Wagenaar
It’s hard to believe that the Minecraft Club at the Owen Sound & North Grey Public Library has only
been running for a year and a half as it feels like it’s always been a part of our programming. When we
first started investigating running a club we looked at many things but the two main issues were access
to computers and finding a suitable space.
The four public computers situated in the middle of the Youth Services department were available for
us to use but we felt we needed more! I originally had planned on using my own laptop but quickly
realized that my five year old laptop graphics card couldn’t handle the game! We also considered
asking kids to bring their own laptops but we recognized this would only work for the small minority that
had access to computers. So to allow more kids to play we arranged to borrow six laptops from the
Adult Learning Centre (ALC) which is adjacent to the library. Each week I retrieve the laptops from the
ALC; move a table and six chairs beside the desktops; set up the laptops, plug them into the existing hub
and run the updates. This takes approximately an hour and then dismantling takes about 15 minutes as
I usually have a helper.
The other issue was finding a space to play. One option was the boardroom on the main level of the
library; however, would have taken the program away from the Youth Services department and we
wanted it to be in our space so that others could watch, ask questions and get involved with the club.
We can be a fairly raucous group but to date there have not been any direct complaints about the noise
that the club makes in the open space we use. When I see a tutor setting up for a lesson I remind them
about the club and it usually depends on the focus of their student whether they stay or move to
another part of the library. In one of the first sessions a parent of a club member was a little concerned
with all the talk of “killing” and “dying” (in PVP) because of the proximity of younger children to where
we set-up (there is a play area for pre-schoolers 20ft away). I spoke to the group about reducing the
volume and the violence in their play and that seemed to help the situation. This has now become one
of the things we discuss in our first meeting of each new club. Most people are genuinely interested in
what we are doing and excited to see so much activity in our library. If there is an available computer I
always invite any spectators to join us even if it’s only for 10 minutes. The only time I had an issue was
with a very young patron who wanted to play but the computers were all busy. He had a bit of a
meltdown.
Starting up our club with borrowed laptops was a great solution and helped us launch our Minecraft
program. It does have limitations however so we are hoping that at some point in the near future we
will have unlimited access to a collection of laptops that the library owns. Secondly, the Minecraft Club
is now firmly established as one of the key attractions for our young patrons because of the location and
has lead to more and more children being excited to come to the library.
This is the library space with just the four computers and a book sale cart.
Transformed to Minecraft Club with tables, chairs, and six more computers.
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