Battle of the Books: A Summer Tradition

Submitted by Cary Perzan, Jack Russell Memorial Library, Hartford, WI

Every summer for the past decade, libraries in Washington, Jefferson, and Dodge Counties have come together to participate in a Battle of the Books Tri-County Competition. The premise is simple: teams read ten (10) books selected by a committee of librarians during the fall months to fit the summer theme. Then they compete in a trivia showdown at the Tri-County Competition hosted by one of the participating libraries. Each team gets fourteen questions, one for each round, and must answer with the correct complete title and author for a possible eight (8) points per round. Teams may have the chance to "steal" a bonus five (5) points by writing the correct title on their whiteboards if another team misses its question. Teams can have up to five (5) members comprised of teens in 6th through 12th grades.

Librarians at the table posing the questions.

Teams conferring before the competition begins.

This year it was a neck and neck contest between libraries from Hartford, Horicon, Watertown, West Bend, Waterloo, Whitewater, Fort Atkinson, and Jefferson hosted by the Horicon Public Library! Multiple teams aced every single one of their own questions, so it came down to a couple of steal opportunities to separate "The Methodical Readers" from Hartford at 147 points from the three teams  from Fort Atkinson, Horicon, and Waterloo who tied for second place at 142 points each. The winning team's library gets to showcase a traveling Battle of the Books Champions plaque for the year at their library! The interlibrary  Battle of the Books Competition is a simple, fun summer tradition to bring kids, families, and communities together with (literary) good-natured competitive spirit! We're looking forward to preparing for 2016!

Winning team: The Methodical Readers