Does/would anybody check out console games from their public library?

I ask this out of curiosity, and also because I myself work at a public library, and we're going to be carrying video games pretty soon. And yes, I mean actual well-known current-gen titles like Halo 3, Bioshock, Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3, Heavenly Sword and even upcoming sure-fire hits like Mario Galaxy.

Now as a gamer I am, of course, completely stoked, but from the library's point of view, I can foresee this being a trifle troublesome, as the particular branch I work at is already overwhelmed by patron traffic (an average of 1,000 people a day) thanks to the fact that in addition to books, all the latest and greatest CDs and DVDs can be checked out for FREE. Sure, it provides us with extra funding and bragging rights, but it also creates an incredibly stressful atmosphere for me and my fellow employees. Obviously, adding yet another insanely popular medium to our catalogue can only add to the burden.

So I was wondering if there are any library patrons or even employees here who routinely check out games or have in the past, and could give me a heads up as to what I can expect as far as public awareness, interest, and of course, traffic. Its a relatively rare thing for a Library to carry, so I have no idea what to anticipate.

Oh, and I'm not going to tell you which library system I work for, just because this information has not been made public yet and I don't want to get in any trouble. :)

Ever since the NES days I've wished that libraries checked out video games. It only made since, since they also checked out VHS, Cassettes and other forms of entertainment in those days. And through the years, they have updated to cd's and dvd's, yet there still isn't any video games.

I would imagine, but can't speak from personal experience that you would see a rapid increase in that 1,000 heads a day. But, on the better side of things, some of those people who come in solely for games and have to make a library account may get turned onto books in the process of their many trips back to the library to look for another game. I know too many people who get their entertainment solely on television, video games and things of that nature, and haven't picked up a book since they got out of high school. And now, with the advancing technology, you can just read books, and get your main source of entertainment and knowledge through the internet. I'm rather scared in that particular area on what this means for libraries and just books in general upon future enhancements. Even comic books are trying to go internet based, to save costs on publishing so many copies, yet they showed how you could still click a button and the page turns and you still see the animation of the page turning so it's almost like holding it in your hands :P Save your realism speech for someone else, I'm not buying.

I worked in a public library for two years and I very well know how screen entertainment helped the 'business'. I live in a 17.000 people town and nearly 5.000 of them have a (free) library account. I hear the number burst from 2.000 to 5.000 in just a couple years, as soon as people found out the administration had started buying feature movies in VHS and DVD format. There have been many requests over the years to check out games as well, but nay, that wasn't to be.
I suppose if we had games, we would have jumped to 10.000 accounts in a jiffy, being the one and only library in a large area doing that.

Still, I noticed one thing: VHS in libraries have a very long life, but DVDs become wrecked and unreadable in a month, when used by hundreds of people. A movie DVD costs $20 and can be bought again, while a console game costs $60 and administration would have our heads on a plate if we asked to buy another to replace the ruined copy.

I assume, though, that your library must have some kind of income from the accounts people open, so your budget must be way bigger than ours used to be, correct me if I'm wrong.

As for the public's traffic: Good luck and deep breaths.