PHILADELPHIA —The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has teamed up with Pokémon GO to encourage Philadelphia residents to explore their neighborhoods and libraries with the innovative augmented reality experience of the popular mobile game in which players can encounter Pokémon in the real world. Five libraries in Philadelphia’s Free Library system will participate in the initiative from July 10 – August 11.
Participants of the Library’s “Summer of Wonder” reading program will qualify to win a special item related to Pokémon GO. To further immerse people in the real-world experience, all visitors to the libraries and the participants in the Discovery Path will be given a map of the nearby PokéStops curated by the Free Library and encouraged to explore the nearby locations. In addition, there will be a celebration of the libraries and the completion of this initiative in September 2017 that will include a walking tour around the PokéStops.
The initiative will help support the Library’s Summer of Wonder program, which promotes reading and exploration activities for students while they are on summer break. Participants can explore their libraries and immediate neighborhoods, as well as complete activities related to literacy, exploration and STEAM in the Summer of Wonder reading game.
Participating libraries are:
● Tacony LAB (through August 4) |6918 Torresdale Ave.
● Queen Memorial Library | 1201 S.23rd St.
● Fumo Family Library | 2437 South Broad St.
● Blackwell Regional Library | 123 South 52nd St.
● Parkway Central Library | 1901 Vine St.
Niantic, Inc., the developer and publisher of Pokémon GO, and the Knight Foundation recently announced a multiyear commitment to promote civic engagement in communities across the United States. These two organizations will support efforts to get citizens outside and to explore their towns in city-organized events.
“To encourage more people to interact with and explore our city’s public spaces, we need to meet them where they are. By combining the draw of Pokémon GO with an invitation to get to know Philadelphia, this initiative taps into the power of technology to promote civic engagement,” said Patrick Morgan, Knight Foundation program director for Philadelphia.
Siobhan A. Reardon, President and Director of the Free Library commented “What an exciting addition to our summer reading initiative! Engaging children while they are out of school is critically important to ensure they return to school in the fall reading on grade level. We look forward to having Pokémon GO players share the fun and curiosity which can be found in our libraries.”
“We’ve integrated incredible and interesting locations that highlight Philadelphia’s history and culture into Pokémon GO,” says Vikram Grover, senior director of business development at Niantic, Inc. “Partnering with Knight Foundation and Philadelphia’s Free Library continues to build on Niantic’s vision to create ‘adventures on foot’ and to bring communities together in the real world, at vital public institutions like libraries, to explore, learn and engage with these institutions.”
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About The Free Library of Philadelphia System:
The Free Library of Philadelphia system, with 54 locations and the Rosenbach, advances literacy, guides learning, and inspires curiosity with millions of digital and physical materials; 25,000 yearly programs and workshops; free public computers and extensive Wi-Fi, including neighborhood Hotspots; and rich special collections, including those at Parkway Central Library and at the Rosenbach. With more than 6 million in-person visits and millions more online annually, the Free Library and the Rosenbach are among the most widely used educational and cultural institutions in Philadelphia and boast a worldwide impact.
About Knight Foundation:
Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visit knightfoundation.org.
About Niantic, Inc.
Niantic, Inc. builds mobile real-world experiences that foster fun, exploration, discovery and social interaction. Originally incubated within Google, Niantic, Inc., spun out in 2015, with investments from Google, The Pokémon Company and Nintendo. The company’s immersive real-world mobile game Ingress has been downloaded more than 15 million times and is played in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Niantic, Inc., also developed and published Pokémon GO, the real-world Pokémon game for iOS and Android mobile devices that has been downloaded more than 750 million times. For more information on Niantic, please visit www.nianticlabs.com.