Play

Vancouver Island Regional Library (VIRL) customers are media consumers. Whether it’s our much-loved DVD collection or films accessed online through resources such as Kanopy or AcornTV, VIRL has a proven track record of offering its customers the media it craves. As our customer demographics shift from Baby Boomers to Generation X and Millennials, we are seeing the rise in video gaming as a pastime in our customers’ households. We aim to ensure our collections, programs, and services reflect the ongoing and changing interests of all customers.

Not only will this collection appeal to a broad range of demographics, it also supports the creation of more regular gaming programs for customers, which have proven to be very popular in our branches. These programs help promote our branches as social hubs and community gathering spaces throughout our service areas.

A Business case was approved by the VIRL Board of Trustees in 2018 setting aside money to start a physical video game lending collection

Beginning November 1, 2019, VIRL will be lending video games for Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One.

There are currently no fines for overdue material, including video games.

Lost or damaged fees still apply (if an item is not returned within 120 days, customers will be charged a replacement cost)

Each of our VIRL branches is determining the best locations for the video game collection to minimize theft. As a system, VIRL is employing the same measures as on all media, including DVDs, CDs and Playaway players, and will follow the lead of other library systems in Canada who have introduced identical or similar collections without issue.

VIRL is looking for feedback from our customers about their experience with this new collection. Please feel free to include your filled-out card with your returned games.

Please let any staff know if a video game is damaged. Staff will process it appropriately.

At this point in time, VIRL will continue to add games for new platforms as they come out. Many platforms are backwards compatible and still work with older games.

At this time, VIRL does not lend video game consoles (players).

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a video game industry body. Their rating system was developed with the help of child development and academic experts.

• E—Titles rated E (Everyone) have content that is generally suitable for all ages. May contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language.
• E10+—Titles rated E10+ (Everyone 10 and older) have content that is generally suitable for ages 10 and up. May contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes.
• T—Titles rated T (Teen) have content that is generally suitable for ages 13 and up. May contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language.
• M—Titles rated M (Mature) have content that is generally suitable for persons ages 17 and up. May contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.

Content Descriptors indicate content that may have triggered a particular rating and/or may be of interest or concern, e.g. Blood and Gore; Violence.

See https://www.esrb.org/ for more information.

ESRB ratings will be listed on the spine labels of the games, and are also mapped to the Age Level facet in Encore for filtering searches (see next question for more details)

• To browse the entire Video Game collection in our Encore catalogue (search.virl.bc.ca), use Advanced Search: enter * in the keyword field and select “Video Game” from the Format dropdown list. Use facets to refine your search results.
• To browse the entire Video Game collection in our BiblioCommons catalogue (virl.bibliocommons.com), use Advanced Search: select “Video Game” from the Format options. Use facets to refine your search results.
• Use the Audience/Age Level facet to limit results by ESRB rating. E for Everyone games will show up as Juvenile, T for Teen will show up as Young Adult, and M for Mature will show up as Adult.
• To find titles for specific consoles, click on the Console images above, or
  • search by platform and limit results by Video Game format (e.g. PS4; Nintendo, XBox One)
  • Use the Genre facet to limit results by console
  • Access specific console games from a relevant catalogue record by clicking on the appropriate Subject Headings link (e.g. Sony Video Games)

If you have any other questions or need assistance with this new collection, please speak to your Library Manager, or contact us at info@virl.bc.ca.