Battle of the Books and Native American Libraries Special Interest Group

NMLA SIG Committee Report April 28, 2016

By Lillian Chavez

There is nothing to report for the NALSIG group.

This is the report submitted by Amy Deutsch for Battle of the Books.

The New Mexico Battle of the Books is a reading competition for students in grades four through eight. Each child who participates must read at least ten of the twenty books on the year’s list for their level. The children arrive at the competition in groups that are sponsored by schools, public libraries or other organizations. Once the children arrive at the Battle, the participants are placed on mixed teams that are made up of children from all over the state. Then the teams compete in a quiz-style battle consisting of four rounds.

This year’s New Mexico Battle of the Books state competition will be held on Saturday, April 30 at the Santa Fe Community College. There are 56 teams registered from all across the state. 33 elementary teams will be bringing 216 students, and 23 middle school teams will send 116 students. 25 rooms at the college will be used. A book vendor will be selling books from next year’s list, and an author from next year’s list will be present. Many onlookers always accompany participants at this event. A pizza lunch and snacks will be provided to all participants thanks to generous donations from community sponsors. In addition, medals and donated books from next year’s book list will be given as prizes to all members of the first, second and third place teams in each division.

For the past few years there have been two NM Battle of the Books competitions on the same date, a state Battle and a Central New Mexico regional Battle. There are two reasons for holding two Battles on the same day. The first is because there are fewer participants at each Battle when there are two on the same date. This makes it more manageable for both sites to organize and run their competitions. Secondly, we have heard from many sponsors that travelling far distances and the associated costs can make it very hard for their teams to participate in Battles. Sponsors can choose to register their teams for either Battle, whichever one is more convenient for them. Both of the Battles use the same books, questions, format and rules.

This year’s Central New Mexico regional Battle will be held at Zuni Elementary School in Albuquerque. 235 elementary and middle school students will be participating. Two authors of books from the Battle lists will be present at this event to help announce the winners and give out prizes.

The NM Battle of the Books steering committee meets twice a year and is very open to suggestions, questions and participation. The committee’s goal is to ensure that Battle of the Books competitions take place in New Mexico every year. In order to accomplish this goal, each year’s books are carefully selected. A database of information that is useful for Battle of the Books coordinating committees has been developed and is maintained. Steering committee members help site coordinators plan for and run Battles. Past site coordinators are connected to upcoming Battle site coordinators to pass on lessons learned. Next year’s battle will be held in Las Lunas and preparations are already underway for that battle. The New Mexico Battle of the Books encourages the youth of New Mexico to read high quality literature, have fun, collaborate with others, and compete in demonstrating their knowledge of books. Public and school librarians consult our lists when placing orders, even if they are not sending children to Battles. We are grateful to once again be a SIG in NMLA and are looking forward to our continued partnership.