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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The Osterhout Free Library was one of more than 2,000 libraries around the world that held International Games Day @ Your Library on Saturday.</p><p>Visitors to the Osterhout sat down over some old-fashioned board games, solved crossword and jigsaw puzzles and consider strategy over some more modern games as well.</p><p>They also enjoyed some light refreshments.</p><p>Elaine Stefanko, coordinator of information services at the Osterhout, said the library has participated in the event for the past seven years.</p><p>&#8220;The Osterhout Library is not just a place with books,&#8221; Stefanko said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a place where people can have some quality time together.&#8221;</p><p>The event helps promote &#8220;civic and social literacy,&#8221; which is one of the five literacies highlighted by PA Forward, a statewide initiative of the Pennsylvania Library Association, she said.</p><p>The libraries like to get people to communicate with each other on a personal level in addition to using their electronic devices, Stefanko added.</p><p>The nature of board games requires players to sit and talk face-to-face while playing. Whether they are pondering which jigsaw puzzle pieces fit where, postulating answers to difficult crossword clues or playing traditional competitive board games, they must do some interacting.</p><p>Players will teach each other about the games, Stefanko said.</p><p>A senior taught a teenager about how to play chess for example. The event can encourage different generations to talk to each other, she said. The games offered were meant to appeal to people of all ages.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Serena Harris Swann, 9, of Wikes-Barre, looks over pieces of the puzzle. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_games3_faa.jpg</photo0><caption0>Serena Harris Swann, 9, of Wikes-Barre, looks over pieces of the puzzle. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_games2_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Serena Harris Swann, 9, of Wikes-Barre, works on a puzzle at the Osterhout Library. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_games2_faa.jpg</photo1><caption1>Serena Harris Swann, 9, of Wikes-Barre, works on a puzzle at the Osterhout Library. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_games1_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Serena Harris Swann, 9, of Wikes-Barre, works on a puzzle at the Osterhout Library as part of the International Day of Games @ Your Library on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_games1_faa.jpg</photo2><caption2>Serena Harris Swann, 9, of Wikes-Barre, works on a puzzle at the Osterhout Library as part of the International Day of Games @ Your Library on Saturday. </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Ralph Nardone</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach the Times Leader newsroom at 50-829-7242 on on Twitter @TLnews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Osterhout holds International Games Day