Eola Road Branch Children’s Services Librarian Krista Danis knows a good children’s program when she sees one, which is why she is carrying on the Pokémon Trainers’ Club instituted by a predecessor at the Aurora Public Library.
“I adopted Pokémon Trainers’ Club when I started at the Eola Road Branch in December 2016,” she said. “Cassie Carbaugh, who held my position as Children’s Services Librarian before me, started the club in the Summer of 2016.”
When Carbaugh left Aurora Public Library for a position at another library, Eola Children’s Department manager, Angela Van Vuren, continued running the program because of its overwhelming popularity with older children.
Danis was graduated from Oswego High School in 1998. She went on to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in political science from North Central College in Naperville in 2002, a master’s in Women’s and Gender Studies from Roosevelt University in 2007, and a Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of Illinois in 2016.
The Pokémon empire was started in 1995 by the Nintendo Corp. with several partnerships throughout the years, covering multiple formats and media, she said.
The Club provides a space for kids to interact and socialize around Pokémon cards and games. The younger ones love to show off their cards and trade and create an early negotiation and compromise experience that is not unlike adult market or diplomatic forums, Danis explained.
“Some of the older participants have learned the intricacies of TCG (The Card Game) and sprawl across the floor in battle. Others choose to bring their own hand-held gaming systems, notably the Nintendo DS and its derivatives, to share their successes with the group. From beginning to end, the club meeting is pretty much a free for all!”
At every session, Danis tries to include an ongoing activity or craft for participants to drop into throughout the hour.
“Depending on the theme, I try to find something STEAM related,” she said. “During the most recent session, we made Ice-type name bracelets using binary code. In previous sessions, we experimented with the Makey-Makey to teach electrical circuits and grounding (Electric-type Pokémon are weak to ground-type moves).
“In February’s session, we celebrated Fire-types with “Pin the Flame on the Charmander,” which was put together by our Digital Services team.”
(As you may or may not know, Charmander’s tail-flame is an indicator of his emotional health. When the flame goes out, he dies! Pinning the flame on the Charmander, therefore, was a task everyone was deeply invested in.)
Danis aims to start each session with trivia for prizes or show-and-tell. Coloring pages and activity sheets are always available, too.
Danis said she likes working at the Aurora Public Library “because of the diversity of our customer base and their information needs.”
She said she enjoys running, playing piano, and, of course, Pokémon Go.
Spring Pokémon Trainers’ Club meetings are from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays, March 18 and April 22. No registration is needed.