We all enjoy playing games whether alone or in a social setting. If we apply this premise to education, then even the most dreary of topics can be made palatable through engaging in playful learning. The dull procession through a set of prescribed rules to reach a solution can be replaced with something that is more fun. But games still have rules, so why is this approach so much more acceptable and exciting? Why when playing a game do we often reach a ‘state of flow’ (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990) where we can experience total immersion? Time seems distorted, our concentration is intense, and we feel in total command of our actions. Within a game, rules are purposefully placed to enhance enjoyment – imagine playing Monopoly if there were no rules to regulate what you could and could not do. It would hold little pleasure if one player just raided the bank and commandeered all the property – game over! If we can tap into this energising formula of a structured game and understand what makes it successful, then as librarians we could provide wonderful experiences for our students that support their classroom learning and give them the opportunity to practise life skills.

This book explores the use of games-based learning and gamification by school library staff. It illustrates how game play can be developed through blended theory and practice, exemplified by case studies taken from a variety of international contexts. There are many publications that consider classroom games, both theoretical and practical, but games in classrooms are often just used as a reward for hard work at the end of a course rather than as part of the education process. Yet we know that much exploration, learning and understanding happens through play, as can be observed in young children. As librarians we bridge the gap between formal lessons and leisure time activities and perhaps have more opportunity to explore the worlds of gamebased learning and gamification as we have more autonomy over our work schedules and content. This book considers practical ideas in context, underpinned by learning theories. To complement this publication, an online course by the author is available from the School Library Association (SLA) (www.sla.org.uk/course/game-based-learning), which allows participants to experience the practical aspects of the game design discussed here.