The challenges were space, organization and owning enough consoles and copies of the game. Members of the local gaming community were contacted. The response and enthusiasm were incredible. Participants were generous in their willingness to bring and connect their own consoles and games. We also used a large projection display as a giant gaming station dedicated to a massive eight-player battle. This provided casual players, those eliminated in the tournament or those waiting for their next match an opportunity to play.

As this program was rooted in gaming and technology, we wanted the grand prize to reflect this, be eye-catching and tied to library services. We decided to create our own trophy using our library’s 3-D printer! We found an existing trophy online, that we modified using Tinkercad (a free online modeling resource). The result impressed everyone there and raised a lot of interest for our library’s 3-D printing services (which were just opening to the public through an online reservation system).

Overall, the event was a huge success. We had 31 participants in the tournament itself and just over 50 attendees, counting family and friends who came to cheer on the players. The program attracted a wide range of ages and populations in our local community (including many 18-25 year-olds who don’t often make it to the library). Furthermore, we were able to establish some great connections with local teens and young adults. We’ve received numerous inquiries about when we will hold another tournament (soon).