Innovative and ever-expanding Games Library initiative showcasing the positive impact of tabletop gaming

Westminster City Council and the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea’s bi-borough Games Library initiative launched back in November 2023 during International Games Week. Since then, the service has grown from a collection of loanable games to a diverse range of regular activities for residents of all ages to enjoy – coupled with an ever-expanding collection of loanable games from all of our libraries to match.

We are dedicated to enhancing our community facilities through creating more safe spaces that cater to the interests and activities that our residents want. The council’s unique approach, through this initiative, expands upon local interests in tabletop gaming and increases accessibility to games; working in partnership with both internal and external organisations.

Our Games Library comprises of four key aspects:

1. Loanable Games: Library users have access to a growing collection of over 360 board games.
2. Regular Events and activities: Providing safe spaces throughout the year that allows in-person interaction with peers, play and to learn more about table-top games. These regular events for all different age groups includes a Queer Women’s Dungeon’s and Dragons club for adults and children, as well as a Tabletop Gaming Club for those 11+.
3. Placements: To provide young people with work experience opportunities that develop skills and confidence through facilitating role-playing sessions.
4. Outreach and engagement: To work closely with young people, local partners, and specialists to receive feedback, gain valuable insight and consistently develop the offer to maximise impact.

To make sure our offer is as exciting as it can be for residents and to help it grow as much as we can, we have also partnered with several reputable, well-known names in the gaming industry. These include the Warhammer Alliance, Dragonmeet, and Imagination Gaming – who support us in delivering our different engaging sessions for residents.

As an avid gamer herself, our Executive Director of bi-borough Children’s Services, Sarah Newman knows firsthand the significantly positive effect that tabletop gaming can have on children’s behaviours. Research has shown that the use of tabletop games has helped vulnerable children and young people engage with therapy, prevent school exclusion and support those with Special Educational Needs and disabilities to engage more easily with others and learning.

There are so many benefits for children playing role playing games, including having fun whilst being creative and collaborative and enhancing their numeracy and literacy skills. Having had the pleasure of being part of many of these sessions myself, I have seen first-hand how much they are enjoyed by our residents, and the positive impacts it has had on the confidence and social skills of the people who come along. I’m so pleased with what we’ve done with the initiative already, and our plans are to continue growing it to positively impact as many children as we can.

One of our external partners, Monte Cook Games has facilitated two ‘No Thank You, Evil’ training sessions at Queen’s Park Primary School. No Thank You, Evil is a cooperative role-play games designed for children which encourages imagination, literacy, numeracy and collaboration. The school’s headteacher highlighted that gaming could be a positive approach to develop social and communication skills, such as active listening, teamwork and turn-taking with students. The range of creative ideas from students was impressive, with teacher’s reflecting on how the session emboldened quieter students out and created a space where they felt comfortable and able to actively participate.

 Headteacher, Melissa Royale at Queen’s Park Primary School said:

Everybody had a lot of fun and Westminster City Council have left us in the perfect position to continue using the game with the children as the staff feel much more confident in delivering it. Although the staff were initially a bit apprehensive, they all talked positively about the impact the games had on the children.

We are also proud to collaborate with Role Play Haven, one of the largest tabletop roleplay clubs in the United Kingdom – their mission is to “make the joy, learning and healing experiences of role play games accessible to all.” Role Play Haven delivers free weekly role play gaming sessions in All Saints Catholic College and will soon launch a new branch at Charing Cross Library as part of our community hubs initiative.

David Coulter, Community Director at The Role Play Haven said:

We are thrilled to partner with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster City Council to bring the joy, learning and love of role-playing games to children and young people.

The increasing popularity of our games libraries underscores the potential for games to become a cultural phenomenon across the UK. Our innovative initiative blends traditional library offerings with modern, interactive gaming experiences, setting a compelling example for libraries nationwide to follow.

Cllr Ryan Jude, Cabinet Member for Libraries said:

We are committed to making our libraries offer the best it can be for our residents – and in 2024 especially that means having a lot more in them than just books. Our Games Library initiative is reaching all corners of our communities, providing safe, inclusive spaces for our residents to express themselves and explore their interests.

It’s a brilliant, unique project supported by officers with a genuine passion for gaming, and I'm excited to see how it continues to grow in the future.

Find out more about the Games Library. 

If you are interested in coming along to our weekly game events, please get in touch with [email protected]

If you would like to become a games volunteer, please get in touch with [email protected]