The Olds Municipal Library is holding a fundraiser where visitors are invited to play video games all night into the wee hours of the morning.
It's called Video Game Madness and it takes place this Saturday from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m.
For $25 per ticket, visitors – who must be 18 and older -- get pizza, snacks, pop and the opportunity to play all night.
Computer services coordinator Ceima Kemaldean says there will also be $400 in prizes to be won, all sponsored by the Olds Institute.
She's expecting a few competitive gamers for the NHL 15 and League of Legends tournaments but the event is for anybody who just wants to play and try out different consoles. The tournaments end close to midnight but the library will stay open until about 2 a.m.
Visitors are also invited to bring their own devices.
"If they have any extra gaming consoles laying around at home and they're interested in bringing them as well, they can contact us ahead of time and get those set up," Kemaldean says.
Finally, Video Game Madness includes a LAN (Local Area Network) party for PC gamers, set up by O-NET.
As a library employee, Kemaldean says she sees utility in holding gaming events, like its kids' Minecraft program. She's seen how children hone their creative and problem-solving abilities.
"A lot of people just write off video games as they're just wasting time but I personally see … the kids are learning so much. They're getting an idea of how to craft different things. They use different forms of logic: if I do this, if I combine these two different actions, I get this outcome."
"A lot of people just write off video games as they're just wasting time but I personally see ... the kids are learning so much. They're getting an idea of how to craft different things. They use different forms of logic: if I do this, if I combine these two different actions, I get this outcome." CEIMA KEMALDEAN, Olds library computer services coordinator
