LINCOLN, Neb.—How many state employees does it take to assemble a Sony PlayStation? Five, apparently.
Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley is questioning why employees of the state Library Commission spent time last year videotaping themselves assembling and playing with the device—on state time—and then posting the video on YouTube. He’s also questioning why that game, along with another game and accessories—$447 worth—were bought at all last year.
“I am well aware that public libraries offer computer game software for loan to library patrons,” Foley said. “But do we really need state employees to use public funds to buy and play with toys and games during work hours to prove the games are popular with children?”
One of the YouTube videos is titled “NLC Rock Band!” In the 10-minute, fast-motion video, staff are shown unpacking, assembling and then playing video games including one that includes a toy guitar and drum set. In another game, a staff member is trying to keep up with dance steps shown on the screen.
The soundtrack to the video is “Yakety Sax,” a song often used as background to slapstick humor acts such as those in “The Benny Hill Show.”
A second YouTube video, about 3 1/2 minutes long, shows staffers playing a game called “Guitar Heroes.”
Library Commission Director Rod Wagner said staffers decided they might as well set up a camera while the games were assembled and used. The videos were not meant to show library staffers across the state how to use the games and instead were “just a way to demonstrate the use of YouTube,” Wagner said.
Wagner also defended the decision to buy games, saying the games were not bought to prove they are popular with children, as stated by Foley.
Instead, the games were bought last year to show libraries what type of games they could buy to attract kids to libraries, Wagner said. Many staffers at libraries around the state are curious about the games that might attract young people but unfamiliar with how the games work, Wagner said.
Staffers had to familiarize themselves with the games before demonstrating them at conferences and other meetings.
“We’re trying to present to libraries the equipment they could consider purchasing for their own libraries,” Wagner said. “They’ve been especially effective in bringing young people into libraries … and then they discover other resources in libraries.”
The staffers promoting use of the games are part of the commission’s Network Services division, which introduces and promotes new products to help strengthen Nebraska libraries through the use of information technologies.
The Library Commission is a coordinating body for public libraries in the state.
Foley said he didn’t have a problem with libraries offering games—his children check them out at local libraries—but that libraries don’t need the state’s help promoting and demonstrating them.
“Library patrons, if they have a request for computer software, they can request it just like the latest novel,” Foley said. “I don’t think state government needs to help by buying toys and putting up silly demonstrations,” he said, calling the YouTube videos “over the top.”
He also questioned staff time spent on social networking Web sites, such as one that creates a virtual world with events that others can be invited to attend. Foley said Library Commission staffers used work time to create a virtual commission Halloween party.
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