The Stewart Library hosted a game day to celebrate International Games Day @ your library this past Saturday.

At the game day, Weber State students and the community came together to play all sorts of games, ranging from board games to video games. The games ran all day, giving students the opportunity to pop in and out of the event at their leisure.

International Games Day @ your library is a celebration of games and libraries that was started by the American Library Association (ALA) in 2007.

“Libraries are depositories of education but also places for learning,” said Jonathan Sears, a library circulation supervisor who was in charge of the game day. “Literacy is linked a lot with board games because you have to read the card and read the rules.”

Literature also has a great influence on board games, as many board games are based off of books.

Libraries all over the world have participated in International Games Day @ your library, even libraries in Antarctica.

This is the second year Weber State has participated in International Games Day. During the event, there was a raffle. Participants won new board games and other prizes.

The lower level of the library was turned into board game heaven for the event.

Students, members of the community and faculty brought their own board games to play, but there were also a number of games donated to the event by Salt Con, a board game convention that takes place each year in Salt Lake City.

Because the game day is an international event, the ALA also donated board games to libraries that formally signed up.

Students came out to the game day for multiple reasons.

“It’s a way to bond with other people. You get to learn about people and the way they think and the way they interact with one another,” WSU student Palmer Sears said. “It’s also something fun for families.”

Students expressed that playing games with their families was one of the few times besides meals that they got to spend time talking and interacting.

“It’s a friendly way to have a competition,” another student, Zach Garcia, said. “Board games aren’t like video games. They don’t suck up every drop of time people have.

As part of International Games Day @ your library, a giant game of international telephone was played.

A phrase starts somewhere in a single library, is passed around through all of the participants and then sent to a library across the world participating in the game day. The game is used as a way to tie all the libraries to each other.

“This is an event to just get people into the library and realize that it’s not just about books,” Sears said. “Obviously our library is a lot for research and for students to come and study, but we also want to have events where students can come and have a relaxing time.”