Waterfield Library kicked off International Games Month with a week of diverse games and collaborations with campus organizations.
International Games Month is a program run by the American Library Association. Many corporate sponsors have helped fund it, sending free games to participating libraries to help them grow their collections and network with their communities.
Waterfield Library started its game collection in 2018 and has hosted events for International Games Month for several years. Megan Wilson, research and instruction librarian, has organized the program since its inception at Murray State, starting with a single day of international games and growing into a full week.
“It started out as a good opportunity to do programming since we weren’t doing a whole lot of outreach at the time,” Wilson said. “Also, I just like games, so it’s an excuse for me to play them.”
This year’s International Games Week had a unusual start with Halloween trivia on Thursday, Oct. 31. With campus closed on Tuesday for Election Day and Fall Scholars Week beginning on Monday, Nov. 11, Wilson reinvented the program’s usual trivia night with a holiday flare. The event took a digital turn on Nov. 1 with games on the Nintendo Wii. Student attendees competed in the popular “Wii Sports” and “Mario Kart.”
Over the weekend, Wilson opened the floor for the longer-running games that are harder to schedule during the school week. Tabletop role-playing games were provided on Saturday for students of any experience level. Ash Stemke, professor of theory and composition, organized matches of “Magic the Gathering: Commander,” a strategy card game.
Two student organizations hosted events on Monday, Nov. 4. Alpha Mu Gamma, a foreign language honors society, played “Bananagrams,” a speed-based word grid game. SOMOS, a Murray State organization for Hispanic/Latinx students, shared a collection of Spanish and Latinx games in place of their weekly Language Exchange meeting in the Waterfield Library Gallery.
Events resumed on Wednesday with the Board Game Club. Kiera Taylor, founder and president, started the Board Game Club in February 2023 to help manage her own struggle with social anxiety and provide a fun social environment for other students. She said Wilson played a big part in getting the club started, so the Board Game Club has been a set part of International Games Week each year.
“I keep in theme with International Games Week,” Taylor said. “I brought games that are set in other places internationally because that’s what I have at home… of the games I brought, ‘Hibachi’ is my favorite.”
Waterfield’s International Games Week wrapped up on Thursday, Nov. 7 with “Around the World in 8 Games.” Some of the games set out for the final event were part of Waterfield’s collection, while games within the public domain were made in the Makerspace. The learning curve of a game is an important factor in what is and isn’t displayed. Wilson said games that are easier to learn in a short amount of time, like the Japanese card game “Koi Koi,” will be featured more than difficult ones like “Mahjong,” a Chinese tile game.
“I actually have a list of about 20 games to pull from,” Wilson said. “I try to pick games from different regions… Here’s one from Japan, here’s one from the Middle East, here’s one that’s traditionally played in Africa, here’s one that’s played in Europe.”
While Waterfield’s events for International Games Month have concluded, the library hosts another games week in the spring semester independently of the American Library Association. For programs run during either semester, Wilson said she is open to organizations reaching out with their own ideas for games week programs.
