By ROBERT LINNEHAN
About two weeks ago before it was available to the children of Haddonfield, the librarians of the children’s section at the Haddonfield Public Library participated in some top-secret market research for a few hours on a Friday afternoon.
Or they played around with a Nintendo Wii for a few hours, but it’s all how you look at it.
The children’s library received a high-tech gift from the Friends of the Haddonfield Library last month, said Dorothy Peppard, head librarian of the children’s section. The group bestowed a brand new Nintendo Wii and 55-inch flat screen television to the library to be used by the children of Haddonfield.
The gaming system — which uses handheld motion detector controllers to guide the onscreen action — will be available after school to children three times a week who sign up for half-an-hour gaming sessions ahead of time.
While some might wonder what a sophisticated gaming system has to do with a children’s library, Peppard said it will likely serve as a useful tool to attract children to the library each week.
“This will allow us to attract young people who might not necessarily come to the library on a regular basis. Hopefully they’ll come for this and see what else we have to offer,” Peppard said.
Before being open to the general public, the librarians took the Wii for a spin two weeks ago with the help of Marc Vasquez, an employee of SineTek Computers and the library’s technical support representative. The employees played a compilation of games called “Wii Sports” and tried their hand at the virtual bowling game, swinging their controllers back and forth to send their bowling balls careening down the lanes.
The system won’t just be for gaming. It will also serve as a DVD player and will allow the library to show more educational videos to its children. It will help replace an old overhead projector that is most likely on its way out, Peppard said.
“We plan to use this for a lot of educational purposes. It will allow us to show our young members more videos, it’s not just for gaming,” Peppard said.
To ensure that no accidents take place with the system, a plexiglass barrier will be installed in front of the television that can be lowered down when the Wii is in use. If you’re wondering why such a device is needed, all one has to do is search for “Wii accidents” on YouTube to find hundreds of videos of over enthusiastic gamers accidentally throwing their controllers through their television screens.
To sign up for the Wii, please visit the library’s Web site at www.haddonfieldlibrary.org or call the library at 429–1304.
