Starting a Pokémon TCG Club!

Pokémon! Gotta catch ‘em all! 
I’ve only ever watched Pokémon. I’m not a hardcore Pokémon card player, but I do dabble with some of the video games and even participated in the Pokémon Go craze. During my third year as a librarian I noticed a huge increase in manga circulation and with that came the creation of a manga club. It ended up forming into an animanga gaming club and next thing you know we were hosting a variety of AniManga events. This included Pokémon trading card game (TCG) playing! This was only made possible because my students had their own decks and cards to trade, but prior to the pandemic something miraculous happened! First book announced educators could apply for free Pokémon cards made possible by a generous donation from an anonymous door. I had completely forgotten about the application until one day there were BOXES at my doorstep. When I say boxes I mean BOXES of Pokémon plush and decks!! We had enough to do a school wide distribution AND still have enough to keep sets for club purposes! The gaming kits at the time came with the following --- 

So while we were using these dueling decks from First Book, it was later announced that AASL was partnering with Pokémon to provide resources to start a club. Our library applied and received some fun items! I believe you can still apply by accessing this form — School Library Pokémon Club Application | American Association of School Librarians (AASL) You'll get an email that kind of looks like this when your application is received and accepted. ​

​So if you’re looking to begin a club I’d say start by doing the following --

• Check out the free resources from AASL by filling out the School Library Pokemon Club Application (link above). 
• Set aside a time and place for club meetings.
• Invite students who play to bring their decks.
• Provide them a space and trust they’ll take off and make the club their own! 

One of our goals for this year is to host a Pokémon tournament! Our plan is to invite students to sign up, form brackets, and provide prizes for the winners. 

I’m more of a Magic: The Gathering player, but I’ve had a student help me learn a little bit more about the game. I hope to follow up this post with some basic game play information in the future. 

I also want to quickly mention that November is International Games Month! What a fun way to kick off your club! If you are looking to start more gaming in the library, I highly recommend checking out ALA's Games & Gaming Round Table blog for resources and information. Check out what my library has in store for this month! ​