At The Time Of Writing

LibraryCraft was created to carry communities collectively across Western Australia (WA) in a safe, structured and moderated method so that players could stretch their creativity and imagination. LibraryCraft uses the features of Minecraft that stretch users’ innovation and artistic thinking, develops their STEAM abilities and builds social and life skills equivalent to collaboration, negotiation, economic management and civic engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

In late 2019, the Fremantle Library launched a small, native Minecraft server for the local people of younger people. After a number of months of testing and upgrades, LibraryCraft was made available to all players aged 7-17 across WA, and WA local governments were invited to participate.

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 just a few weeks, had more than tripled its player base. At the time of writing, LibraryCraft brings collectively 20 WA native councils, reaches over 100 players from Derby-West Kimberley to Albany and sees a whole bunch of play hours logged each week. Gamers have created new friendships across the state and are recurrently working collaboratively on challenges and exploration.

Originality/worth

While Minecraft servers operated by libraries are far from new, LibraryCraft is exclusive. MINECRAFT SERVERS No teams of libraries have run Minecraft servers collaboratively in Australia before, and none is out there state huge. The programme is very valued with families in WA, offering a safe social outlet for players caught at house in isolation.

MINECRAFT SERVERS