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The latest and greatest outdoor sporting event is a far cry from a new version of ultimate Frisbee. It’s not an upgrade on soccer or football, and it’s nothing like anything we’ve seen before. Taking recreation to a new level is the newest innovation in GPS tracking: it’s called geocaching, and it inseparably brings together the worlds of sports and technology.

Declared a “high tech version of hide and seek” by Garmin, Geocaching involves using a global positioning system to locate geocaches all over the world. Typically waterproof containers like a plastic storage box or a piece of Tupperware, these caches contain logbooks in which the geocacher can enter the date and time when he located it. Sometimes larger geocaches contain items for trade such as inexpensive trinkets or toys.

There are currently more than 100 countries, spanning all seven continents across the globe, which actively participate in this large-scale technological gaming community. Even Antarctica has a finger in the geocaching pie. Just having reached its 10 year mark, 1.3 million geocaches exist around the world, with more than 5 million people of every imaginable race and ethnicity actively seeking them.

A Princeton Public library of West Virginia is now supporting geocaching enthusiasts by providing equipment to assist them in locating local caches. Sponsored by the West Virginia Libraries Commission and the West Virginia Dept of Education and the Arts, 80 local libraries have recently been presented with Geo-kits as an outgrowth of the Explore WV Program. These kits include a list of caches in the area, GPS equipment, an instructional geocaching book, and a variety of other geocaching equipment.

Interested patrons may visit their local West Virginia libraries to check out the available geocaching equipment. However, they may have to put down a small deposit, which would be returned upon the safe return of the loaned GPS tracking device. There is currently no other existing way to affordably participate in this educational athletic activity.

According to the West Virginia library system, this is simply yet another attempt to support local families in achieving their goals. Few families can afford to purchase a GPS tracker for the purpose of geocaching. However, anyone can go to the local library and check out a set of equipment. The goal is that this will make geocaching more accessible to the public, while bringing additional interest to the library system.

Article Written by Janice Grover