Local library goes viral thanks to Pokemon plans

During the weekend, Pokemon Go caught the world by surprise.

Not so much for Ryan Easterbrooks.

Within a matter of days, the latest offering from a franchise that dates back 20 years became a worldwide phenomenon and put other smartphone app giants like Twitter and Tinder on notice.

But the director of children’s programs at the Bluffton Library saw the app - if not the success - coming a mile away.

“I grew up on Pokemon,” said Easterbrooks, 24. “I still play the cards.”

Easterbrooks caught wind of the smartphone project months ago and kept an eye on its progress in hopes of of finding a way to blend his passion with his profession.

“The day after it came out, my boss came up to me,” he recalled. “‘What is this? Can you explain it to me?’ It was all over Facebook. We were thinking of ways to utlize it in the library and seeing what other libraries were doing.”

What happened next didn’t just get the attention of local library patrons but also attracted a worldwide audience.

From Pokemon gym to Reddit star

The library is one of a handful of Bluffton “gym” locations in the interactive game. Gyms are hubs for gamers to train their Pokemon and battle other players.

“It’s one of the main locations in the game,” Easterbrooks said.

The idea was for the library to promote itself not only as a gym but to display which local team currently has control of the site in the game.

“As teams take it over, they come up to the desk and let us know,” he said. “Whichever team has it will be on the display case.”

One patron was so taken with the display that they snapped a photo Tuesday and posted it to Reddit.

In less than 24 hours, the photo was upvoted 4,700 times by its worldwide audience and received more than 1,300 comments, propelling it to Reddit’s highly sought after front page.

Some responses noted the users also being from the Lowcountry. Others said they planned to visit the library in their community and also use it as a gym in the game.

“It’s this weird dichotomy,” he said of those who have stopped by the display. “We have a lot of older people in the community. They walk in and go, ‘I don’t get it.’ They just kinda leave it alone. The younger generation, you see their eyes light up. It’s being woven into our community.”

More Pokemon plans coming

The game won’t be the last time you see the library turning to Pokemon. There are already plans in place for a Pokemon club in the fall.

“It’s good for libraries,” Easterbrooks said. “There’s a TV show, books. The literacy component is there. And we plan on doing more interesting things with Minecraft and Legos in the future.”

As he spoke Wednesday morning, the yellow team had control of the library branch. But Easterbrooks didn’t anticpate that lasting.

“I’m on the blue team. On my lunch break, I’ll take it back.”

This story was originally published July 13, 2016 at 3:13 PM with the headline "Local library goes viral thanks to Pokemon plans."