Schools
Ready, Set, Read!
Athens-Clarke County Library's Battle of the Books pitted one school against the other in an epic literary battle.
Dozens of fifth graders descended upon the Thursday morning on Baxter Street to test their reading skills in the most competitive “Battle of the Books” competition in recent memory.
The rules are simple: Earlier in the year, students were given a list of the 10 books for this year’s competition. The students divided up the hefty stack between five team members, each usually reading two of the books. The best team from each school came to the library bright and early to show of their literary muscle by answering trivia questions about the books.
“It just makes them excited about reading, and who can beat that?” said Rosemary Belger, librarian at .
Find out what's happening in Athenswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Belger said volunteers from all 14 participating schools worked together to set up the competition, which placed the fifth-graders from one school head-to-head against children from other schools. Each battle consists of 20 questions, which the team leader must answer with the title and author of the correct book.
In the end, the team from edged out the students from for the win, the trophy and the knowledge that they hold the Battle of the Books title for three years running.
Find out what's happening in Athenswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
But for the kids, it’s mostly about the fun.
The team from Alps Road Elementary -- Victoria, Kaya, Jurnee, Rolando and Deshaun – made the trek down Baxter Street with their teacher to compete.
If you ask them what they like best about the competition, they’ll tell you: Competing. Reading the books. Walking down to the library.
But for these students, the trip meant more than just leaving their classmates behind while they engage in a page-by-page book battle.
“It makes you smarter,” Kaya said.
But then the competitor in her came out and she put on her game face: “I like it because I’m good at it.”
Belger said this is the 10th Battle of the Books in Athens, and that it's part of a larger organization started decades ago in Chicago.
The top two teams were awarded trophies, and every participant earned a medal.
“We want these kids to be lifelong readers; we want them to enjoy reading,” Belger said. “Reading is everything.”
