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On The Time Of Writing

LibraryCraft was created to deliver communities collectively across Western Australia (WA) in a protected, structured and moderated way in order that gamers could stretch their creativity and imagination. LibraryCraft makes use of the features of Minecraft that stretch users’ innovation and artistic considering, develops their STEAM skills and builds social and life skills comparable to collaboration, negotiation, financial management and civic engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

In late 2019, the Fremantle Library launched a small, native Minecraft server for the local community of young people. After a number of months of testing and upgrades, LibraryCraft was made out there to all players aged 7-17 across WA, and WA local governments had been invited to take part.

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 few weeks, had greater than tripled its player base. On the time of writing, LibraryCraft brings together 20 WA local councils, reaches over a hundred players from Derby-West Kimberley to Albany and sees a whole bunch of play hours logged every week. Players have created new friendships throughout the state and are recurrently working collaboratively on challenges and exploration.

Originality/value

While Minecraft servers operated by libraries are far from new, LibraryCraft is exclusive. No teams of libraries have run Minecraft servers collaboratively in Australia earlier than, and none is out there state broad. The programme is extremely valued with families in WA, providing a secure social outlet for players stuck at dwelling in isolation.

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