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Rock Band in Your Library

Posted by Cole Stryker

A video featuring Nebraska librarians setting up and playing Rock Band with a projector in an auxilliary room of some kind has local taxpayers outraged. OUTRAGED.

As a strict free-market libertarian, I'm a little torn about this. I think it's ridiculous that taxpayers should have to pay for this, and yet they're already paying for music listening stations, DVD racks and rows of computers, though I imagine the movie rentals help to defray the costs of some of these extra-literary programs. Isn't this a logical addition to a the strategy of "bring them into the building; they'll leave with books? I suppose the other reason to be shocked and appalled is that the librarians play test it for an inordinately long time.

Stephen Johnson from G4 disagrees with me:

Rather than being hounded by local investigative reporters and state auditors, someone should give these librarians a pat on their back, a new bookmark, as well as a raise. The people in Nebraska who are outraged over this should really find something else to worry about. Aren't there any cows that need tipping?

I guess if the librarian's job is to bring kids into the library, then they do deserve a raise. I can't help but feel this will do little to educate children. And at a time when many Nebraskans are having a tough time putting food on the table, I can definitely see how this would be interpreted as a slap in the face.

Comments

out2blinddinner said:

As a video-game-loving librarian, I have to stick up for these Nebraskans. Luring kids onto the premises in the hopes that they'll leave with books is only part of the librarian's job. We have a mandate to entertain as well as to educate and inform. We also have a mandate to give children, teens, and adults a safe public space, and to maintain a focal point where the community can come together, get to know each other. What better way than playing Rock Band together? And imagine the number of kids whose parents can't afford a PS3 or Rock Band--this is their chance to get a crack at it, while getting to know other kids in the community and staying off the streets.

But I'm confused as to why so many people think libraries should only exist to educate and inform. That's what schools are for, and we're there to support that AND offer entertainment. If taxpayers in NE think that's a waste of money, do they also think we should take all the popular fiction off the shelves, block all websites except for those deemed "informative," and lose the DVDs and CDs? These things, and video games, are all the MORE valuable now that we're in a recession and so many people can't afford to buy, or even rent, what they'd like to. And, I mean, it's 2009. It's not just about books anymore. If that's all we carried, we'd be completely irrelevant.

Also, I remember a post on 61FPS re: gaming in libraries, which made the point that gaming improves all manner of skills, from hand-eye coordination to planning and deductive thinking and map-reading. Rock Band doesn't compare to, say, a Zelda title for skill-building, but I'd argue that you come away "improved" from it, and there's always the possibility it will stimulate an interest in real-life musicianship. +1 for education!

February 28, 2009 6:30 PM

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John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

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Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

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