It’s a year of STEAM at CMLE! Each week we admire some aspect of STEAM education that is being tried by people and organizations all over the place.

If you are not a gamer, or don’t have one in your life, you may not understand the huge reach esports have achieved. This is a multi-billion dollar a year business, spread across the world. This is not “just” people sitting around playing games; it’s building an entire new culture of sports and gaming. It’s pretty exciting to see it all happening!

And of course in libraries, we are all about being on the cutting edge of technology. It’s part of our mission to keep current with the things that are most interesting to our patrons – or things that might be interesting to them.

So this story was pretty interesting! You can read the excerpt below, to find out how the Pottsboro Library managed to get a grant to start their own esports program. What a great way to connect with their community members!!!

Pottsboro Library receives
federal grant to start esports program

Pottsboro Library received a $50,000 federal grant to start a scholastic esports “program.

Esports is a form of competition using video games, and its popularity is on the rise.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency, is funding this new program which will place esports programs in libraries across the country.

“So it takes something that people love, which is what libraries are all about, independent learning. Taking something they love and then letting them explore it,” said Director of Pottsboro Library Dianne Connery.

She said they take pride in having innovative technology available at their library so an esports program will fit right in.

Of the $50,000 grant, most of the money is going toward required equipment like gaming computers, headsets, and something all library visitors can benefit from.

“The piece that I’m very excited about is faster internet,” Connery said.

Connery refers to esports as “connected learning” and says young people will learn important career and life skills like problem-solving, collaboration, and communication — all while playing video games.

Since they are one of a few libraries nationally to implement this, Connery and her team will get to share their experiences with the program to libraries across the country.”

(Read the rest of this article here, and admire their photos!)