I live in a somewhat small town, and our local public library is not currently hosting any D&D games.  But other libraries not too far from my town do currently have successful programs where they run weekly D&D games. I may try to start running a game at my local library, but there are various things to consider:

1) The libraries that I know of that host D&D games run 5e, which is to be expected.  This is not my favorite system, but I don't mind it.  I'm more into the OSR, but I know that's a niche of a niche.  I'm not sure if I should even try to pitch a different game.  But running 5e is not a huge concern.

2) One library that I know of runs D&D for teens and school kids.  Another library runs games for ages 17 and up.  I would prefer 18 and up, as I don't want to be a babysitter as well as a DM.

3) I have no idea what kind of players a local public game would attract.  I'm guessing there might be some curious normies, but I would also guess that some blue-haired SJWs might show up.  We don't have alot of such people in my hometown, but there are a few. I don't want any players to bring their personal politics to the gaming table, but I'm not quite sure how I would handle overtly woke players.

Has anyone here ran or played D&D at a public library?  If so, what was the experience like?

It sounds like those other libraries are running games convention style. Meaning you can host a game but have to adhere to their policies regarding the game. Like you can post the game, other people can sign up and you don't have much discretion in the matter. A lot of flgs do something similar.

At my library you just reserve a room and do whatever you want. The library isn't involved. You have to put it all together yourself. You can post the event on the bulletin board for people to see but the event itself is entirely at your discretion.

If the latter applies, my advice would be list out your own policies/rules and then post the game on the bulletin board. It's ok to list rules like "no personal politics are allowed, any use of religious content is purely fictional, anyone breaking the rules will be asked to leave".

This gives potential players a list of what to expect and outlines the consequences for getting all woke about it.

Quote from: Crusader X on June 15, 2024, 02:21:44 PMHas anyone here ran or played D&D at a public library?  If so, what was the experience like?

I had a friend who would run a story games day at my local library in Redwood City, and I went and helped several times. That's even more niche than OSR, I think. It was open for people to show up, and we'd typically have 3 to 6 possible games to play - since they're designed to be easy to pick up and play.

So I think you could probably do the same with OSR games. Have maybe 3+ possible games with prepared character sheets and an adventure ready.

If you're concerned about woke players showing up, I think advertising it with an old-school-style picture and language would reduce the possibility. There are woke OSR players, but fewer than 5E, I think.

Our library had a conference room you could rent out in blocks of 1 hour for like 1$ an hour and we used that for years.

Thanks for the responses so far.  Just to clarify, I'm talking about a game that is sponsored by the library.  They would be advertising it as an opportunity for people in the community to come and play D&D together.  I would be volunteering to DM, and I would most likely be playing with people I have never met before.

Long ago, the 90's, yeah, but it was a small town library with only 3 groups playing, 2 AD&D and one starfleet battles game. We lost the ability to use the library about 6 months in because a couple guys brought girls as dates, got them playing, and then all the nerds devolved into being cunts for the sake or attention of the girls, who btw, were never gonna be your girlfriend anyway. After a couple reports of some shouting matches and one really dumb parking lot burnout the custodian of the library withdrew the ability to use the conference room area after 5pm, thus ending the games as most players could not get started until about 5 anyway due to work or school or whatever.

It was a fine experience or environment, access to plenty of table and chairs with good lighting, vending machines, well lit parking lot along a main road, easy for pizza hut to find or whatever. If not for the few who decided they wanted to pick up a girl and make the game too we might still be playing there if its even still standing.

If you can get the gig, its great, and if you do, all participants should be briefed on ettiquete and expected social behavior so the ability doesnt get revoked.

A colleague and I have been running open-table BX/OSE games at the public library where we work for a couple of years now.  Mostly twentysomethings and Gen X old-schoolers with a handful of teenagers, we usually have at least 16-20 players per session. Everyone has been pretty cool, no politics at the table (I know some are left-leaning from conversations away from the table.) I've written some stuff about it here: https://labyrinthsandlibrarians.substack.com/

I planned on running an open table game of Basic Fantasy running some classic hamlet + megadungeon setup.

Issue being I want to set some ground rules that are inviting but keep the crazies out.

I might be uniquely qualified to give an answer to a lot of this.  Almost all of my RPG playing experience up until my 20s was in libraries; some public, some school, and some military base libraries.  I was an army brat so I did this in a lot of locations.  While most people think of LGSs as a gaming location, my internal default is to think of libraries.  Also, I could generally get my mom to cut me loose to spend 5 hours at a library without question so I could essentially hide my RPG playing from her.  (Satanic Panic, evangelical mom...)

First, never play in the common reading areas.  This has been a disaster every time.

Most libraries have conference rooms that can be used pretty much how you want.  You have to reserve them and there's going to be additional rules but as long as you respect the fact that it's a library, game on.  Be aware that not all libraries can allow you to go over your reserved time slot.

Most libraries don't allow food.  Getting caught sneaking in food has been the #1 reason why so many of the games of my youth ended abruptly. 

Talk to the librarians. Almost all the time they are very helpful and sometimes they join in.  One table I played at had 5 early teen boys and one middle aged lady.  (I think she joined initially just to keep an eye on us but stayed and played for well over a year.) 

Librarians don't want trouble in their library anymore than you want trouble at your table so if your rules for decorum and avoiding trouble are reasonable, often times they will use their authority to make your rules their rules for your game and you don't even have to be the heavy that enforces them.

You will want to make an extra effort to make it easy to pack up quickly.  Needing to get out of the way with all your stuff in a hurry may only come up once or twice but you will be happy that you were ready when it happens.  I would caution against using fragile minis.

Set aside the last 15 minutes of your reserved time for clean up.  You should ask the librarians before had for things like brooms and vacuums to borrow and where they want you to put your trash.

Lastly, something I wish we had done as kids was bring a dice tray.  As much as you don't like finding the d4 with the bottom of your foot, neither does the Library cleaning staff.
 

There was an RPGA group that did events in a library back in the 90s.  I went once when I happened to be in town at the right time.  It was okay but it was too much of a trip for me to go regularly.

If you are concerned about wokies showing up and trying to turn the game into an exhibition of their political ideas, you may be out of luck. You can have a blanket "No Real World Politics" rule at the game, but it will only be as good as the enforcement of it. Ultimately you will have to be prepared for confrontation with people who want to turn your game into something else.

My local library actually has a D&D policy.  They're quite welcoming, if you want to be a freaking therapist/babysitter.

Back in the late 70's I played a multi-session game at a local library in Fairfax, Virginia that was pretty memorable.
 I actually learned a few tricks from the DM, and even use a few of the situations in games I run currently.

The one oddity was that, if a girl wanted to play, one of the librarians had to sit in on the session and basically act as an arbiter of what was appropriate for said young woman to be exposed to.  Obviously this put a crimp in some of our more nefarious plans, but we still managed some pretty epic adventures while the campaign lasted.  Note this was something imposed on us by the Library administration, and not by the guy running the game sessions (nor was it endorsed by the few girls who did show up to play).

Eventually the DM in question got tired of dealing with some of the Library's rules and regulations and moved the campaign to his home, at which point I had to quit (as my parents couldn't support getting me there due to time and distance). 

I know this isn't the exact kind of feedback you're looking for, but bring it up as an example that you may end up having more issues with the Library/staff than you do with the actual participants.

I'll add a few things I've observed during GMing for public spaces (like libraries):

• Don't run plot-based or sprawling thematic campaigns!  Your players will be so variable and sporadic that any plot threads will be lost weekly.
• Do run "west marches" or hex crawl campaigns.  Especially if you can establish a home "town" (I've used a floating city, sailing ship, etc. as a base to accommodate map travel and still allow players to drop in and out)
• Structure each adventure so that it can be completed in one session.  Small temples and ruins to explore, a problem in the new town that has three encounters, etc.  Things are far more complex if you keep having to write player characters in and out of the adventure, so you want to run an "episode of the week" like a OG Star Trek series
• Have lots of pregens available!  Make it really easy for new players to sit down and play.  Give them the option to build a character later, but make sure they can be playing within 5 minutes of hitting the table.

Otherwise, treat it like any other ad hoc game.  Your greatest enemy will be attrition, so plan accordingly...

Unfortunately for us the Library was full on Satanic Panic, long after it was over because it never really ended, and hated us being there and eventually concocted complaints that we were too loud. Moved us to a basement meeting room. And then thrashed it and framed us for it.

Things got worse for 3 of my friends.