A $1 million donation from International Game Technology to UNLV will establish the International Game Technology Library, featuring the Gary Royer Gaming Collection, in the UNLV International Gaming Institute.
The gift came from the IGT Foundation to the UNLV International Gaming Institute through the UNLV Foundation. The Reno-based donor is the leading manufacturer of slot machines and proprietary software systems and an innovator in slot technology. IGT is the only gaming machine manufacturer licensed to do business in every regulated gaming jurisdiction in the world.
Expressing the university's gratitude to International Game Technology, UNLV interim President Kenny Guinn said, "It is appropriate that, with this gift, a leader in the gaming industry is supporting a leader in gaming education and research."
Dave Hanlon, president of IGT, presented the donation to Guinn at a news conference in the Richard Tam Alumni Center today (May 17). Also attending were Gary Royer, Nevada Gaming Commission Chair Bill Curran, and university administrators, faculty, staff, and students.
The donation will be used to purchase a unique collection of gaming-related materials compiled by Gary Royer, a Reno CPA and author of numerous books on gaming, who has had a wide range of gaming experience over more than two decades, including serving as a supervisor of internal control, audit, training, and special projects for the Nevada Gaming Control Board, according to Vince Eade, director of the UNLV International Gaming Institute.
The institute, which will house the IGT Library and make it available for research and educational purposes, is part of UNLV's internationally known William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration.
"We would like to thank IGT for its generous gift and for recognizing the value of the UNLV International Gaming Institute," Eade commented. "We are also grateful to Gary Royer for his long-term effort of assembling such a large and impressive collection. It will be a significant addition to our resources, which include the gaming collection housed in the university library's Special Collections Department. The Royer collection is one of the best, if not the best, we have seen."
Eade said the collection is a "user-friendly, working collection. Members of the gaming community, students, and the general public can make use of it. This isn't going into an archive to collect dust," he said.
The collection is organized in five sections:
* Section I--Gambling Law and Annual Publications: includes general gaming law books; international publications from a number of countries; U.S. federal and state laws and publications; and material relating to county, city, and township laws.
* Section II--Vendors to Gambling Interests - Manufacturers and Distributors: contains a general overview of vendors, as well as specific information about international and American domestic vendors.
* Section III--Casinos, Race Tracks, Sports: contains information ranging from the county to the international levels.
* Section IV--Management and Control - Gambling: contains material on governmental entities, professional agents, casino management and administration, vendors, lotteries, racing, and Indian gaming.
* Section V--Gambling - General: includes material on the sociology and psychology of gambling, history and biography, cheating, card control, mathematics and probability, and information on specific games.
