Teen Dungeons and Dragons clubs in Greater Grand Forks promoting socialization and teamwork

Contributed By Jordan Rusche Today at 7:00 AM Listen Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? GRAND FORKS — A handful of teenagers gathered around a table at a public library isn’t as common of a sight as it used to be, but that has been changing in the last few years thanks in part to one program: the Teen Dungeons and Dragons Club. The Grand Forks Public Library has been hosting a club since 2023 for 13- to 18-year-olds to come together and play Dungeons and Dragons. Librarians say the program is not only a good way to get teenagers to come to the library but that it also serves as a welcoming place for socialization and storytelling. ADVERTISEMENT “They like hanging out with each other. I think a lot of them didn’t know each other prior,” said Brandy Helm, the adult services library associate who helps oversee the club. “All different schools — some home-school kids even, I think, have come. They talk about how sad they are when they can’t make a game.” Dungeons and Dragons is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game first published in 1974 and known primarily for its use of dice and character sheets for gameplay. The game experienced a surge in popularity during the mid-2000s as people began putting their Dungeons and Dragons games online for others to watch, drawing people of all ages to the game. The club meets from 5-8 p.m. every second and fourth Tuesday of the month and has averaged an attendance of between 10-16 members since its first meeting, with more than half of the original attendees still coming to the sessions. Initially, adult volunteers took on the role as dungeon masters, or DMs, to run games for the attendees. “The goal was for the teens to eventually become knowledgeable and comfortable in the game to be the DMs themselves for their peers, which we have achieved,” Helm said. “We maybe stopped having the adults volunteer like a year into it.” Tiberius Palmer is one of the teen DMs for the club and has been a member of the group since its first meeting. “A big problem with D&D, I find, is that you need friends to play it, and that is not an option for everyone,” he said. “Having a public club like this … gives them the opportunity to play the game for completely free.” He added the library also has Dungeons and Dragons resource books and other materials available to be checked out. ADVERTISEMENT Simon Vernon is another longtime member and DM for the club. “I think it’s fantastic,” he said. “It seems to be very communal, which is a good thing.” The library recently started a tween Dungeons and Dragons club for kids ages 9-12, which meets 4:30-6:30 p.m. every third Thursday. That club was started because of the popularity of the teen group and the number of younger kids who wanted to join. “The maturity difference is pretty apparent between a 12- and a 13-year-old, so we felt bad to turn them away when they’re so excited about it,” Helm said. “Some of the teens from the teen D&D group said that they would be interested in being the DMs volunteering for the tween group.” Palmer and Vernon are two of those teen volunteers. “It’s a great opportunity to start off young with a more easy-to-grasp game,” Palmer said. “Frankly, it’s more advanced than our games because we actually use stuff like battle maps.” Grand Forks’ library isn’t the only one in the area offering tabletop role-playing events. The East Grand Forks Campbell Library hosts a tabletop role-playing night from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on the first and third Monday of the month, and community members of all ages are welcome to attend. ADVERTISEMENT “I will say it’s mainly adults,” Library Director Lacey Anderson said. “We don’t necessarily market it towards teens.” She noted kids in the tween and teen age groups are the least likely to come to the library to participate in events or activities, but she and her staff have been working to change that. Some of the Campbell Library’s teen and tween programming includes a video game social hour where kids can come to play Nintendo Switch games; a “tech take-apart” activity where kids can learn about the mechanics of small electronics like computer mice, keyboards and remote controls; and various crafting activities. The library also has tabletop role-playing events aimed at younger patrons in third grade and up. That group, which meets from 3:30-4:30 p.m. on the first Wednesday of the month, focuses on simpler adventure games. “It’s not Dungeons and Dragons, but it would be a child-friendly, time-friendly sort of way of teaching the role-playing games for a younger age group that would not be able to really understand the complexity of other role-playing games,” Anderson said. The Grand Forks Air Force Base Library holds a teen Dungeons and Dragons club, open to people ages 12-18, from 1-3 p.m. every other Saturday. Helm said the teen club at the Grand Forks Public Library has helped a lot of the attendees come out of their shells and become more confident. ADVERTISEMENT “Some of them started out pretty shy and weren’t very talkative, but now they come up and talk to me when I’m out at the desk,” Helm said. Some of the teens have also met at the library outside of the club and talk with each other online. Angie Laxdal, the library’s marketing director, said as someone who hasn’t played Dungeons and Dragons before, she’s seen the club become a very welcoming environment. “This is a perfect example of people finding each other and creating those relationships, and for teens, it’s the social skills,” she said. “What I’m seeing is storytelling and social skills and confidence.” Both the teen and tween clubs are open to anyone in those age ranges with any level of experience to join. Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? Tags Tags LIBRARIES GRAND FORKS EAST GRAND FORKS By Jordan Rusche Jordan Rusche is the government reporter for the Grand Forks Herald. 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