For over 30 years, the Park Ridge Public Library has partnered with Park Ridge schools to offer fourth and fifth grade students a chance to test their knowledge of books.
Each spring, a new list of books is compiled by the Park Ridge Public Library children's librarians for the coming year. Titles cover a wide range of reading interests and abilities. Beginning in the 2017-2018 season, the list will consist of 32 books. No books will be carried over from the previous year.
Kids are encouraged to begin reading the books from the Battle booklist as soon as the list comes out. Summer is a great time to read Battle books since they can count for the Summer Reading Club!
During the summer, we host a Battle Boot Camp to discuss books on the list and let kids know how a Battle works. Parents are invited to attend Battle Boot Camp with their children.
Each school forms its own team under the guidance of a coach (a school librarian, teacher or parent) who decides the make-up of the team, schedules practice time, and sets the requirements for being part of that school's team.
The Library schedules and hosts the meets which begin the Thursday after Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Meets are held on Monday and Thursday afternoons at 4:00 p.m. and run for three weeks. The schedule is posted on the Library's website and sent to each school.
Meets consist of two rounds of 32 questions (64 total). Points are awarded for correct answers, but there is no penalty for incorrect answers. Every book will only be used once during each round (twice per meet) which allows each team a chance to answer 16 questions.
Four teams face off at each meet with up to four players per team per round allowing for the opportunity for up to 8 players to compete at each meet.
One final meet, The Cupcake Challenge, will be held at the conclusion of the 3 weeks. This will be a WHOLE TEAM challenge where all 8 schools will participate. Questions are of a higher difficulty making use of more obscure plot details and quotes with no character names. Questions are asked to all teams simultaneously. Teams have 1 minute to discuss the question quietly and write their answer on the answer sheet provided. Scores are tallied and added to the cumulative scores from the previous 3 weeks while cupcakes and lemonade are enjoyed.
Final winners are announced at the closing ceremony that afternoon. Ribbons and certificates are awarded at the Cupcake challenge closing ceremony and plaques for 1st - 3rd place are delivered to the winning teams' schools in the weeks following.
If you have any questions, please talk to your school librarian or call the Children's Department at (847) 825-4527.
Battle of the Books List 2017-2018