ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) --A northwest suburban library is featuring an exhibit you might not normally associate with the hushed atmosphere of a library.
“It’s great. It’s so much fun,” said Brooke Hurley as she played Tetris in the middle of the main floor of the Arlington Heights Memorial Library.
Tetris isn’t isn’t the only video arcade game there. There’s PacMan, Mortal Kombat, Frogger, Donkey Kong Jr., Joust and more. There are also floor panels providing a history of video arcade games.
The library’s program and exhibit specialist Emily Muszynski said the exhibit had been planned for 2020, but then COVID hit.
“It’s from the Cradle of Aviation Museum and Education Center in New York. They shipped these 12 original arcade cabinets here to the library," she explained.
"They set it all up for us, made sure that they were working and they’ve been set to free play until January 15th."
Muszynski said staff had originally thought the exhibit would appeal mostly to Gen Xers and maybe Baby Boomers, but it has turned out to be an intergenerational favorite.
“It’s really great to see these grandparents bring their grandchildren, these parents bring their children and tell them, this is what I grew up with and isn’t this so cool!”
Angela Prokopios had her two-and-a-half year old son Christos playing Joust.
“It’s really fun to see something classic through someone’s very very new eyes," she said. "Seeing it through his eyes is really special.”
Megan Louis had fun exposing her daughter Farrah Koons to PacMan and Tetris- games she grew up playing with her siblings.
“I think it’s great. She’s never played too many video games, so it’s been fun to see all these," she said.
Young Farrah said she really liked playing with the video arcade controllers.
Wilton Moy, 41 had gone to the library for a non-video arcade reason, but he couldn’t help playing Street Fighter II for a little while.
“I grew up playing Street Fighter so this brings me way back," he said.
Moy said he plays video games at home with his children, much to the dismay of his wife. He also took them to the Arlington Heights Memorial Library to check out the video arcade games.
Muszynski expects even more people to try out the games and see the exhibit during winter break and when high schoolers visit the library to “study” for final exams.
As for maintaining quiet in the library, Muszyinski says the volume of the video arcade games has been lowered enough for players to get their thrills and library patrons to enjoy reading.
Arcade Age continues at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library until January 15.
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