By now you’ve probably heard of Pokémon Go, the augmented

reality game released just two months ago that took the world by storm. Chances are you’ve seen people wandering around town with their smartphones held out in front of them (more so than usual) who appear to be chasing invisible creatures. The premise of this global phenomenon is to locate, capture, battle, and train these Pokémon creatures who appear on the screen as if they were in the same real-world location.

Today we are having a Pokemon party at Stearns Park in Columbus at 4 p.m. Bring your smartphone to catch Pokémon around the park or battle at the gym. Lures will be set up for this special event. We will have other craft and activities as well, including tie-dye to match your team’s colors, so bring a white t-shirt!

We’ve also created book lists at the library based on your Pokémon Go team. Team Valor players value strength and power and have fierce competitive streaks. Books suggested for this group include Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, a young adult novel about a female assassin, and American Gods by Neil Gaiman, a blend of Americana, fantasy, and mythology that is being adapted for television next year.

Team Mystic’s values are logic and wisdom. Team members must calmly analyze situations and maintain a cool head. “Observe, adapt, evolve” is part of their motto. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, which is narrated by Death and tells the story of a ten-year-old girl living in Germany during World War II, might appeal to Mystics. Another book on the list is the classic science-fiction tale A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, about a girl, her brother, and her friend who travel through space and time using a tesseract to save her father.

Trust and intuition are the core values for Team Instinct. They believe in themselves and follow their instincts. Members of this group might want to check out The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, the coming-of-age novel (and one of my personal favorites) about shy teenager Charlie, who describes the experiences of his freshman year of high school in a series of letters to an anonymous stranger. Delirium by Lauren Oliver, the first book in a dystopian trilogy set in an alternate modern society where love is seen as a disease, is another suggestion for Instincts.

If you’re a frequent Polk County Public Library visitor, you might have already caught a Pokémon in the library and are proudly displaying your victory button, like Jamar Bristow pictured here. If not, come on by and see who’s hiding in the shelves!

Jen Pace Dickenson is the Youth Services Librarian at Polk County Public Library. For information about the library’s resources, programs, and other services, visit www.polklibrary.org or call (828) 894-8721.