Digital Games in Libraries (DGIL)

Working Together to Save the Stories, Culture, and Legacy of Indie Games

Digital Games in Libraries logo with a pixelated open book dissolving into colorful squares and the words ‘Digital Games in Libraries.

DGIL brings together game developers, game studies scholars, librarians, library law and policy advocates, and video game fans to collaboratively build strategies and tools for academic and public libraries to collect indie digital games. We want to broaden access to these games now and preserve them for the future. Because games belong in libraries—but how libraries collect games needs to change.

We are focusing on the work of independent game designers who are on the cutting edge of gaming culture. Digital-only distribution channels have made it possible for diverse creators to share innovative, thought-provoking games, but libraries currently lack the technologies and legal frameworks to collect this essential cultural heritage. Through research, public discussions, and working groups, DGIL is developing new approaches for collecting digital games that will actually work for indie game creators, users, and librarians.

Whether you’re looking to attend the upcoming National Virtual Forum for Digital Games in Libraries, contribute to a working group, or simply stay informed, there’s a place for you in our DGIL community.

Updates

DGIL will be hosting a virtual forum in October 2026 that will bring together librarians, game developers, game studies scholars, and legal and policy experts to discuss strategies for collecting digital games in libraries.

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AND if you’re interested in contributing to a working group that will develop tools and resources for libraries to collect indie digital games: Stay connected!

We’ll have more information on how to participate in that phase of the project after the Virtual Forum.

Get Involved

The success of this project depends on the involvement of many different communities and stakeholder groups that have an interest in seeing digital games in libraries.

We need input from librarians, players, indie game developers, and other key stakeholders in order to develop collecting strategies and tools that meet these various groups’ diverse needs and priorities.

We’ll be reaching out to these communities for their participation throughout the project.

Questions? Contact Dr. Colin Post, Principal Investigator

Personnel

Dr. Colin Post is the Principal Investigator for the project. Feel free to contact him with any questions about the project: ccpost@uncg.edu.

Marisa Marzilli, UNCG Graduate Assistant

An advisory committee representing key stakeholder groups provides consultation on major project activities:

  • Kendra Albert, Albert Sellars LLP
  • Phillip Penix-Tadsen, University of Delaware
  • Diane Robson, University of North Texas
  • John Scalzo, Irondequoit Public Library
  • Rebecca Slitt, Choice of Games

DGIL is especially focused on digital games made by solo game developers and small development teams. The independent (indie) game development community has exploded over the past decade, in large part fueled by digital distribution platforms that make it easier than ever to create and share games without huge budgets. Indie game developers bring new voices and perspectives into the video game industry, and indie games consistently deliver some of the most innovative play experiences to players.

Because many of these games only exist on digital platforms, indie games are at particular risk of becoming lost to history. Libraries cannot easily preserve these games because there are no discs or cartridges to stash away for future access. DGIL aims to equip libraries with strategies and tools designed to address the distinct issues and challenges involved in preserving digital-only video games. With these strategies in place, future generations of researchers, educators, and players will be able to appreciate the significant cultural value of indie games.

DGIL consists of three major phases to accomplish our main goal: empowering libraries of all kinds to collect, preserve, and provide access to independent digital games.

  • Exploratory Research: The first step is learning more about the current issues and challenges that libraries will need to address to develop strategies and tools for collecting, preserving, and providing access to independent digital games.
  • National Virtual Forum: Building off what we learn from the initial research, we will organize a national virtual forum that brings together people from the library world and the game world to discuss these major issues and begin to collaboratively develop collecting strategies that work for everyone.
  • Working Groups: Finally, DGIL will assemble working groups representing key stakeholder groups to develop the blueprints for digital game collecting strategies and tools.

Support

This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS): Building a Foundation to Collect Independent Digital Games in Libraries, LG-256637-OLS-24.

Logo for Institute of Museum and Library Services

DGIL is also supported by the following organizations:

GameRT logo
Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation logo
Library Futures logo