At The Time Of Writing

LibraryCraft was created to bring communities collectively across Western Australia (WA) in a secure, structured and moderated approach so that players could stretch their creativity and imagination. LibraryCraft makes use of the options of Minecraft that stretch users’ innovation and artistic considering, develops their STEAM skills and builds social and life skills similar to collaboration, negotiation, economic management and civic engagement.

Design/methodology/strategy

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

Findings

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a cancellation of Fremantle Library in-person programmes; LibraryCraft, as a purely online programme, was scaled up, and in a number of weeks, had greater than tripled its participant base. On Wow servers of writing, LibraryCraft brings together 20 WA native 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 across the state and are recurrently working collaboratively on challenges and exploration.

Originality/value

While Minecraft servers operated by libraries are removed from new, LibraryCraft is exclusive. No groups of libraries have run Minecraft servers collaboratively in Australia earlier than, and none is out there state large. The programme is extremely valued with families in WA, offering a protected social outlet for players caught at dwelling in isolation.