On The Time Of Writing

LibraryCraft was created to convey communities together throughout Western Australia (WA) in a protected, structured and moderated means so that gamers could stretch their creativity and imagination. LibraryCraft uses the options of Minecraft that stretch users’ innovation and artistic pondering, develops their STEAM abilities and builds social and life expertise equivalent to collaboration, negotiation, financial administration and civic engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

In late 2019, the Fremantle Library launched a small, native Minecraft server for the local people of young individuals. After several months of testing and upgrades, LibraryCraft was made available to all gamers aged 7-17 across WA, and WA local governments were invited to take part. Cats

Findings

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a cancellation of Fremantle Library in-particular person programmes; LibraryCraft, as a purely online programme, was scaled up, and in a number of weeks, had more than tripled its player base. At the time of writing, LibraryCraft brings together 20 WA local councils, reaches over a hundred gamers from Derby-West Kimberley to Albany and sees a whole lot of play hours logged every week. Gamers have created new friendships across the state and are regularly working collaboratively on challenges and exploration.

Originality/value

While Minecraft servers operated by libraries are removed from new, LibraryCraft is unique. No groups of libraries have run Minecraft servers collaboratively in Australia earlier than, and none is obtainable state broad. The programme is extremely valued with families in WA, providing a protected social outlet for players stuck at house in isolation. Cats