Each game must be catalogued and processed — something that has proven difficult.

“There’s not really a standard for that yet,” assistant director for public services of MSU Libraries Terri Miller said.

Approximately 100 games have been catalogued and are ready to be used in the new game rooms, Miller said.

The library's staff hopes to have 500 catalogued by the end of the academic year.

The video games, part of the Rovi Gaming Collection, can be used for entertainment or as part of research, Miller said.

“We have people in all different departments looking at video games,” Miller said.

On October 20-22, MSU will host the Meaningful Play Conference.

Meaningful Play is "a conference about theory, research, and game design innovations, principles and practices,” according to its website.

The conference speaks to the academic importance of the medium, Miller said.

“They are a cultural statement,” Miller said.

James Madison College freshman Iza Graham did not expect to find a collection of electronic games at a university library.

“It’s not something you typically think of a college providing,” Graham said of the video game collection. “It makes me want to go to the library.”

The library has several unique collections students might not be aware of, including the Turfgrass Information Center, the comic book collection, a music manuscripts collection and the Vincent Voice Library, which collects audio recordings of the voices of historical figures.

The project is ongoing, Miller said. The library will continue to get new games every month while cataloging new games from the existing collection.

“We want students to give us feedback,” Miller said.

Students are encouraged to submit their ideas for the Rovi Gaming Collection, including requests for new games.