Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Uniondale Public Library hosted a Pokémon-themed program last Saturday to celebrate the franchise’s 30th anniversary, welcoming children and parents for an afternoon of games, crafts, giveaways and card trading.
While fans around the world marked the anniversary on Friday, National Pokémon Day, the library held its event a day later to make it more accessible for families.
Children’s Librarian James Grzybowski organized the gathering, saying he wanted to create a program that brought families together while celebrating a global phenomenon that has spanned generations.
“It’s the 30th anniversary — we had to celebrate it,” Grzybowski said. “I figured, why not do it here in the children’s section instead of our Pokémon Club? That’s a little low-key, and this is obviously a big event.”
A lifelong fan, Grzybowski said his connection to Pokémon runs deep. “I’ve loved Pokémon forever,” he said. “I’m the same age as it, and even have a Pikachu tattoo on my ankle.”
The turnout was larger than expected, with more than 100 people attending, which Grzybowski attributed to his outreach efforts.
Every month he hosts scavenger hunts for children, and in February the theme was Pokémon. He said he hoped to bring the event back, but acknowledged that making it annual could diminish its uniqueness. The next plan might be the 35th anniversary.
The library’s Pokémon Club meets every Friday and is led by librarian Travis Williams, who has built a strong following. During Saturday’s event, Williams also oversaw the game room, where children played Pokkén Tournament DX on a Nintendo Switch 2 projected onto a wall.
“If kids don’t have a Switch at home, they always have one here,” Librarian Chrissy Hirsch, who oversees the children’s department, said. “We have a healthy budget, and the kids are here because of it.”
Other activities included conversations with Hirsch in which children discussed their favorite Pokémon. Eventually Hirsch changed into a Pikachu costume and posed for pictures with the kids.
Grzybowski had created the Great Wall of Pokémon, a design from all Pokémon generations along with its creation year, from 1996 to the present time, on Canva, where users can create their own designs, and The young patrons put stickers on their favorite character.
“Pikachu is smothered in hearts — I guess everyone likes Pikachu,” he said.
The event featured a Pokémon trading hour, during which dozens of children exchanged cards with others. John Lazo and Araya White-Holland had a binder filled with hundreds of cards they have collected over the years, neatly organized in plastic sleeves.
White-Holland’s collection stood out, with the cards carefully color-coded — from greens to blues and eventually to “energy” cards — arranged for collecting rather than trading. At her side she kept a tin filled with hundreds of additional cards she was willing to trade to add to her collection.
“I haven’t even counted them because I’ve been collecting for so long,” said White-Holland, who began collecting at around age 8. “It took one whole day to organize all these cards by myself.”
The young patrons were shocked to learn how much some of Lazo’s cards were worth — one was valued at over $4,000. Before trading valuable cards, he uses a mobile app to track their worth.
During the trading hour, “Pokémon Professor Brittany,” a character Brittany Georgalas created in 2022, greeted children with crafts. When she isn’t a Pokémon professor, Georgalas is a librarian at the North Merrick Public Library.
“I love Pokémon myself,” she said. “I started a club at the library, and I created a character where I got all my artwork, chose my favorite Pokémon — and the kids started calling me Professor Brittany.”
Georgalas’s character is an official Pokémon professor — a volunteer role within the Play! Pokémon Program. Professors help run events, and often serve as assistant judges at Trading Card Games around the country. She often judges, and speaks at panels on Long Island TCG shows. She said she views her role as a youth ambassador, helping introduce younger players to the game.
I really love it, because now everyone in the library or event people see me and say, ‘Oh Professor Brittany,’” she added. “It’s the best when kids start knowing who I am.”
She brought Pokémon products including an inflatable Pikachu costume and a Poké ball – a spherical device in the show used to store Pokémon -themed air balloon arch, which were all donated.
“Since everyone knows me as Professor Brittany, I get so many donations and things that people don’t want,” she said.
During the Uniondale event, however, Georgalas drew a crowd with her “Pokémon collage” craft, which featured cutouts of Pikachu and energy logos, glue and coloring activities.
“Pokémon is magical — even though it’s not real, you kind of take it as, this is my partner, my favorite Pokémon,” she said. “That’s how we make it real in our heads. It’s a nice way to collect and make friends.”
From what Georgalas said, the kids who are interested in Pokémon are more fascinated by trading cards, rather than the show or games.
The event was supported by the library’s programming budget — a roughly $80,000 annual fund that covers supplies and events — rather than its $40,000 children’s book budget. The total cost of the Pokémon celebration will be detailed in upcoming board documents.
Most of the gifts, however, were donated by Collectors Emporium, a trading card store in Levittown. Hirsch said that she drops by whenever the library is having an event, and comes out with cards and toys. Other donation come from parents and friends.
