The community college library I currently work at recently underwent major renovations. Part of the renovations included creating a Student Engagement Room which acts as a sort of lounge space. There is comfortable seating, board games, and a large TV with a PS5 hooked up to it. Students can check out controllers and games from the library for up to 2 hours at a time. The room and the PS5 have been very popular. However, we’ve had some patrons, typically older students or professors, who have questioned why we provided such a space. Some gripe about video games and how everyone in there should probably be studying and the people who deserve to enjoy the space are probably busy studying. 

Because of this experience, the National Literacy Trust’s page on video games and literacy really resonated with me. It was very interesting to see an organization focused on literacy highlight the benefits of video games when so much of the messaging surrounding video games is negative or solely focused on entertainment value.

This graphic shows the 6 potential benefits of video games highlighted by the National Literacy Trust.

Video games can…

I want to focus on a couple of the points made here.

“Video games can improve confidence in young people’s reading skills”

My little brother was never much of a reader. He tried a bunch of different books but nothing quite clicked for him. However, he loved video games. One surprising side effect from playing so many video games was he learned how to read really fast. In story-rich games, there are lots of dialogue boxes and other chunks of text that are important to navigating the game. He got really good at reading things quickly so he could progress faster.

“Engage boys and reluctant readers with literacy”

This holds true with my little brother’s experience but it also has proven true with the Engagement Room at the college. The PS5 has proven to be a bridge between the library and patrons who wouldn’t otherwise interact with our resources. The PS5 brings in students who might be more hesitant to engage with literacy or the library. They interact with library workers when checking out the controllers and games, become more comfortable with the workers through those interactions, and discover more about the library and the resources available to them. The video games helped break down the barrier between reluctant students and the library.

From my experience with the library and video games, I have learned the importance of meeting patrons where they are and not judging a solution or service before examining potential benefits first. If we allowed the negative assumptions people had about video games to prevent us from incorporating them into the library space, we would have missed important connections and opportunities for outreach and learning.

In Signage by Design, Edward Luca and Bhuva Narayan examine the power of signage within libraries to make or break a library user’s experience. They write specifically about the importance of signage in mitigating library anxiety. Good signage allows patrons to navigate the library and feel more comfortable in the space.

Library End Cap Signage

The community college library I work at recently underwent extensive renovations. As part of the renovation, I was tasked with creating new end cap signs for the library shelves. Before sitting down to design the signs, I hadn’t really considered how many decisions had to be made concerning the signs. As I began to look up signage from other libraries, I realized that there were so many factors to consider.

Check out this Pinterest Board with different examples of end cap signage

• Color
  • White background with black text?
  • Black background with white text?
  • Multicolored?
• Font
  • Do you choose a serif or sans serif font?
  • Do you use one font or multiple?
  • How big do you make the font?
  • Should all the text be the same size or should you have a larger font size for the call number ranges
• Alignment and Arrows
  • Is it enough to align the call number and subject headings to the correct side of the endcap or do you also need to have arrows pointing to the aisle for greater emphasis?
• Call Numbers (we use the Library of Congress Classification System)
  • Do you include call numbers or just subject headings?
  • If you include call numbers, how specific do you make the range?
    • Just the general class?
    • All the way to the Cutter Number?
• Subject Headings
  • Should you include subjects on the signage or does it make it too cluttered?
  • If you do include subject headings, how many do you put on the signs?

The goal of all of these decisions was to create helpful signage. The signage had to be easily legible, accessible, and provide enough information for most students to feel comfortable navigating the shelves without assistance. It also had to be flexible enough to allow for minor shifting of books. I landed on a white background with a black, sans serif font. We use this same font in most other signage around the space.

The call number ranges include the general class and the first set of numbers defining the subject. The librarians determined the most popular subject headings within the range to include on the signage. I don’t think there is such a thing as perfect signage, but intentionally designing signage for legibility, accessibility, and navigability can help make your space more welcoming and useful for patrons.