Just Wondering - Battle of the Books

This month's column by Manitowoc (WI) Public Library Youth Librarian Susie Menk is thinking about how to help people understand the how and why's of library work. And she's wondering....what do you think? 

Recently a question arose about books for our library system’s annual Battle of the Books competition.  Manitowoc-Calumet Library System has had a Battle of the Books program as part of its summer reading activities for the last twenty years.  Each system library that chooses to take part, can put together a team of teens to read through a list of books during the course of the summer. Then, in early September they battle it out in a trivia contest.

Traditionally, the system committee picks books by genre so that teens can read the ones that interest them most. The committee also incorporates different genres to expose them to books they may not have picked up otherwise.  Most of the titles are books published within the last year or so.  Genres include: realistic fiction, non-fiction, graphic novel, mystery, horror, historical fiction, and science fiction/fantasy.  The system committee chooses eight titles in spring and then the system orders multiple copies of the books and delivers them to each participating library.  But, for the first time this year we will be using six titles and adding another two graphic novels to the list to hopefully increase interest in the program again. 

At Manitowoc, this program is usually run by our teen associate.  We promote the program at our summer reading school visits and in early summer the books are available to participating teens.  During the course of the summer the teens get together and practice answering trivia questions and discuss the books.  Teens are not required to read all the books, but we also try to encourage teens to try something new.  In past years, we encouraged teens to focus on one or two titles so they become experts on those titles.  If enough teens read the various titles it usually means there are enough members to answer most of the trivia questions.

During the course of my work in the Youth Department, I became aware that some of our public schools participate in a state run Battle of the Books.  This program divides readers across the state into elementary, middle and senior levels. 

 So my question is—if the schools take part in a Battle of the Books, should public libraries offer one as well? Libraries struggle to get teens to participate in summer reading. Does offering a program that duplicates something they are already doing in school help or hinder their engagement in summer reading activities at the library? Is there any kind of appeal in reading different books and working with other teens?  What can public libraries offer that would motivate teens to take part in another Battle of the Books?

What do you think? Does your library do a summer reading Battle of the Books or do schools in your area already offer something of this kind?  What benefits do libraries receive from offering this kind of program?