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      Collection Development

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      • Creating a circulating board game collection
      How To GuidesCollection DevelopmentCreating a circulating board game collection
      • Overview 1

        • Lecture1.1
          Why add games?
      • Planning Your Collection 6

        • Lecture2.1
          Will you circulate?
        • Lecture2.2
          Who will manage it?
        • Lecture2.3
          How do you select your games?
        • Lecture2.4
          How do you get staff buy-in?
        • Lecture2.5
          How will you inform your patrons?
        • Lecture2.6
          What is the policy?
      • Games to Consider 9

        • Lecture3.1
          Catan
        • Lecture3.2
          Ticket to Ride
        • Lecture3.3
          Hive
        • Lecture3.4
          Mysterium
        • Lecture3.5
          Lanterns
        • Lecture3.6
          The Grizzled
        • Lecture3.7
          Qwirkle
        • Lecture3.8
          Concordia
        • Lecture3.9
          Five Tribes
      • Preparing for Circulation 4

        • Lecture4.1
          Labels
        • Lecture4.2
          Cataloging
        • Lecture4.3
          Rules
        • Lecture4.4
          Extra prep options
      • Maintenance of Your Collection 3

        • Lecture5.1
          Repairing parts
        • Lecture5.2
          Replacement parts
        • Lecture5.3
          Replacing games

        How do you select your games?

        When it comes to selecting games, I use a few resources to choose. The first is just my knowledge of games. I’ve played a lot and especially at the start of the collection, I knew more games that were fantastic than we had. Anymore, my personal knowledge only gets me so far.

        So I turn to Board Game Geek to get a lot of the initial selection ideas and learn about games in a broad sense. Then I often go to YouTube to watch videos and see if the game play feels like it matches up to the description. If there’s a game convention nearby, try and go to play the newest games in person and get a sense for what the new trends are.

        I mentioned game cafes earlier, and I have gone to play games there to test them out before purchasing games for the collection. In Columbus, we have a large game club that has a lot of games called CABS which I can use to try before I buy.

        On your handout I’ve got a few websites and video series that have been helpful in learning more about games in the past. I would suggest any of those. Likewise, there is a Facebook group of librarians that do games, and their hive mind is really helpful in knowing if something is a hyped up flop or a secret treasure.

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