As indicated by my post on the club's Facebook page I am moving into the new post of Operations Manager here at Bournemouth Library in a fortnight. I have spent the last seven years as Senior Library Assistant, over which time my work has changed drastically. During this time I have seen the move to self service machines, two major staff restructures, new staff have come and old staff gone and most relevantly for this blog we have launched the gaming club.
Gaming in libraries has seen a major renaissance in recent years, especially in terms of tabletop gaming. Of the 12 Bournemouth Libraries only one has no gaming offer* and all libraries in Poole offer gaming for either adults or children (and most offer both). International Games Day @ Your Library has an ever increasing number of participants across the world.
My new post means a whole set of new responsibilities and challenges as I will be working heavily within our specialist Music library. There are a number of exciting projects that I will be getting involved with, but one of the by products of this is that I will not have time to spend on the gaming club. It is nearly two years since the club launched and is now running successfully with only minimal staff input. As a result I will be stepping down as the main GCN contact and as the staff member with responsibility of leading the direction of the club. Lyndsey will be taking sole responsibility for the overseeing Worlds Away, which is a sensible move as she was the driving force behind setting up the club in the first place.
I'm not going to be completely leaving the Library's gaming programme though. I am taking up a position on the International Games Day @ Your Library committee advising on how to increase involvement of UK libraries within the event. I'll also be coming along to play games with you lot whenever possible.
*Using the definition of Kevin Maloney that is utilised in Scott Nicholson's Gaming in Libraries video course
