The St. Tammany Parish Library's 2018 Battle of the Books, an annual trivia competition between teams of fifth through eighth graders from across the parish, took place on Saturday, July 14. The teams competed in multiple rounds of a quiz bowl-style competition focusing on knowledge of five novels. An Award Party followed the battle. Members of the winning team, The Rocking Readers of the Madisonville Branch, received individual trophies and were awarded the official Battle of the Books Championship trophy for display at the branch. The Rocking Readers also took home the trophy at the 2017 competition.
“We had a record number of teams this year! We had two teams each from Causeway, Covington, Mandeville, and Slidell. We had one team from Madisonville and one from South Slidell. Each team consisted of three-five players. Because we had so many teams, we had two simultaneous preliminary battles of five teams each. From there the top two teams from each of the preliminary battles went on to play in a semifinal battle. The top two teams then battled each other for the trophy. Competition was stiff! Most teams lost by one question. All of the participants were well prepared,” said Tanya Dimaggio, Children's Services Coordinator of the St. Tammany Parish Library.
Non-scoring awards included ribbons for Best Costume, Best Sportsmanship and Best Team Name. The Awesome Four Team from Covington won the award for Best Costume. Individual players from the Covington and South Slidell teams won for Best Sportsmanship for staying to the end of the event after not advancing to the semifinals. The Rocking Readers also won the award for Best Team Name.
“Madisonville’s team has won the trophy and best team name for the second year in a row, so I am extremely proud of them for their hard work and competitive spirit. I am grateful to their awesome parents for their support,” said Lillie Butler, Children's Services Librarian at the Madisonville Branch and team coach. “Battle of the Books has been a wonderful event for all with so many participants excited about the competition. All of the teams do an excellent job of competing and it is a joy just watching them perform. This event is especially outstanding because it is well attended by children, parents, grandparents, other family members and friends from throughout the parish and other places outside the parish.”
“This was our fourth battle and each year we grow. Teams are already looking forward to competing next year. Librarians are eager to get that trophy to their branch! We will likely have to move the battle to a location other than the library next summer because ten teams barely fit,” said DiMaggio.
