The UAB, first university to incorporate a video games service in the library

The goal is threefold: offer a learning resource based on video game possibilities, experiment with a wide array of video games, and offer entertainment.

Digitisation is transforming the library model in general, and university libraries in particular. At the UAB, a video games service was launched at the beginning of this academic year, the first of its kind at a university in Spain, and it is offered free of charge from 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. every weekday.

The goal is threefold: offer a learning resource based on video game possibilities, try and experiment with a wide array of different video games, and offer entertainment to individuals and groups.

Video games, as a form of cultural and technological expression, have a large impact on society and can be studied from different angles, such as design, narrative, education and academic research. With this in mind, the UAB launched its Video Games Service, located on the second floor of the Communication Library and General Newspaper Archive, within the Media Library. It also offers a space with books specialising in video games. The service is open to all members of the university community and can be used during the library's opening hours.

The service focuses on teaching, research and transfer in relation to video games. In the bachelor's degrees in Interactive Communication, Translation and Interpreting, and Engineering, and in others, video games are degree subjects and they are also study and research material. Research is conducted around the accessibility of video games, the ethical design of artificial intelligence systems, their use to teach mathematics in school, etc.

This new service includes four gaming devices: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Steam and Xbox.

"As a lecturer of subjects that include video games, these are often not easily accessible, and now this new service offers the possibility for students to approach them at no cost to them", says Pau Lluís, lecturer of the bachelor's degree in Interactive Communication. This degree studies how the medium works, what languages ​​it contains, and what implications it requires as a business structure.

Until now, video games could only be loaned from the university's libraries, "but what we have done at the UAB is different: we have set up a specific physical space with consoles, screens, headphones, controllers and special seats so that you can play as if you were at home", explains Tomàs Fabregat, head of the Communication Library and General Newspaper Archives. "I don't know of any similar service in university libraries, although it is a type of service that can be found in municipal libraries", Fabregat points out.

With a maximum capacity of four people, the space is equipped with a computer with Steam and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate with Microsoft Xbox controllers, a Sony PlayStation 5 Slim Digital Edition console with DualSense V2 controllers, a Nintendo Switch console with Joy-Con controllers, a 65” LG television and two Targus wireless headphones. The space was created with the technical advice of Pau Lluís, head of the GameLab of the Department of Audiovisual Communication and Advertising.

The service began working at the start of the academic year and has been very positively rated: the space reaches full capacity almost every day.

Exhibition and conferences

Video games are the stars of the UAB during the month of November. Until 20 November the exhibition "Start Game, video games at the UAB" will be on display in the exterior showcases of the Science and Technology Library. The exhibition is organised by the library and the UAB Video Game Interest Group and seeks to review the teaching, research, and cross-curricular activities related to video games occurring on the UAB campus. Conferences on the subject of video games are also being offered throughout the month.