Video-game tournaments for kids and teens during International Games Day at Mentor Library

Mentor Library is hosting Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros tournaments on International Games Day.

Kids who come to Mentor Library on Saturday, Nov. 21, better be ready to play because it's International Games Day.

To celebrate, our Main Branch is hosting not one but two video-game tournaments that day.

Kids ages six to 12 can play in our Mario Kart tournament, which begins at noon.

Teens can compete in our international Super Smash Bros tournament from 2 to 4 p.m. One lucky gamer will even win a $25 gift card to Game Stop.

Both tournaments are free to play in. However, we ask that you register beforehand. You can sign up on Mentor Library's website—specifically at this link for Mario Kart and here for Super Smash Bros—or by calling 440-255-8811.

Want more? Mentor Library also has a monthly video-game tournament called Clashing Controllers at its Lake Branch. The next tourney is 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 18.

By the way gamers, Mentor Library circulates games for PlayStation, Xbox and Wii consoles, as well. Feel free to check them out.

Get your controllers ready for International Games Day at Mentor Library

Teens compete in Super Smash Bros during Mentor Library's Wii Wednesday.

When you think of the library, you think of books, right?

There's nothing wrong with that. We love books.

We love music and movies too.

But we also love—and this is one that people forget—video games.

That's the big reason we're participating in International Games Day, which is Saturday, Nov. 16, at Mentor Public Library’s Main Branch. 

Gamers from 12 to 18 years old can come to the library from 1 to 3 p.m. that day and compete in Super Smash Bros Brawl and Mario Kart tournaments with teens from 1,400 libraries across the United States and world.

It'll be a lot of fun, and it will also give teens a chance to connect with people from around the world.

In addition to video games, there will also be board games—including Ticket to Ride, Gloom, Tapple, Cross Ways and Rodeo Rummy—throughout the library that people can play.

(If you love board games, but haven't really tried anything beyond the staples—Monopoly, Scrabble and the like—you owe it to yourself to try some of these newer games.)

By the way gamers, we circulate PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii games at the library. So after International Games Day, you can check a couple of cartridges out. (Do they still call them cartridges? I feel old.)

Teens can register for the Wii tournaments on the library’s website or by calling 440-255-8811 ext. 215.