This past weekend my Coy and I attended the Wichicon comic convention in Wichita, Kansas. It was the second year for the con and our first year of attending it. It was a small con, though it benefited from being attached to the much larger Wichita Riverfest, a 9-day long event with live music, fairs, and other fun activities.
Coy and I had a great time for the two days of Wichicon. Traffic was steady both days with a great mix of genre fans and just regular folks who came in to get out of the heat. We made a lot of sales - selling out of the card games we brought with us - and met a lot of wonderful people.
One of those people was a librarian. I am a bad author, because I did not catch her name, but I know that she works at the library in Pratt, Kansas. (Pratt is a small town about 80 miles west of Wichita.) This librarian was filled with enthusiasm for the comic con, and was very interested in our games. She explained that she has been getting the kids in town to come to the library in the afternoons and weekends to play games. They play board games and card games, and they have even been playing Dungeons & Dragons. The library purchases the material (the games, the books, the dice...everything) and makes it available to the kids to use. I don't know about you but I think this is a great use of a library. What a wonderful way to engage with kids (and adults) and provide them a fun place to interact.
Coy and I had a great time meeting everybody at Wichicon, but I will remember our interaction with the Librarian from Pratt the most. It was great to experience her enthusiasm and interest for games and gaming, and a lot of fun to talk with her for those few minutes at the con. We hope that she continues with her library gaming and that other libraries out there think about starting up a similar program if they haven't already.
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