Libraries of today are no longer a place of hushed voices and stern looks, but rather serve as a hub for the community to come together, learn and even have some fun.
That was definitely apparent on Wednesday as close to 100 students from schools across Simcoe County descended on the Barrie Public Library’s downtown branch to compete in the 29th annual Battle of the Books trivia competition.
The event is a bit like intramurals for students that are avid readers, explained Sandra Sydor, community engagement manager for the city library.
“For the Barrie Public Library, it gives us an opportunity to really champion Canadian authors. These students have been working all academic school year … and will often take their recess and lunch breaks to practise," she told BarrieToday.
"They’re committed to reading a lot of these books so that they know the main characters and can answer the questions," Sydor added.
The Barrie Public Library team goes into the schools and visits the classroom throughout the academic year to do practice drills with the students, she added.
“We leave them with worksheets so that when it comes to the challenge, they are really well versed and trained on responses," Sydor said. "As we know, with reading, when you talk about a story you learn a story. Not only does it build reading skills, it builds communication skills."
Wednesday was 12-year-old Ava Stockill’s second year competing in Battle of the Books, telling BarrieToday she felt it was a great opportunity to combine her love of reading with her love of trivia.
“It’s two things I like a lot,” said the Grade 6 student at Trillium Woods Elementary School. “It’s super fun. We’ve got a good team this year.”
Stockill recommends the event to any students who love to read, but warns they need to be ready and willing to put the work in.
“It is a decent bit of work,” she said. “I can read really quickly, and I have read all of the books. It took me until maybe a month ago (to read them all). Once I did, I had my family and friends quiz me on them.”
Corley Marling is the teacher-librarian at Trillium Woods, located on Elmbrook Drive, and was on hand to watch her students compete, telling BarrieToday the event is an opportunity for students who love to read to come together as a team, do trivia and compete against other schools in a fun way.
Participants are provided with a list of approximately 40 books at the beginning of the school year and spend the year reading and preparing for the competition.
“When they come here, there are different types of trivia contests where they compete against other schools," Marling said.
Students in grades 4 to 8 can volunteer to be on their school team, Marling explained, adding this year she had so many students wanting to participate she needed to create two separate teams.
The concept is a fun way to get kids excited and engaged in reading, she acknowledged.
“I was a kid who wasn’t very athletic, but I loved to read and they never had anything like this when I was young. It gives kids who love to read the opportunity to be on a team and doing something they love to do — which I love to see,” Marling said.
“The nice thing is there are a lot of different types of books on the list — non-fiction, graphic novels, chapter books — so they have the opportunity to read a bunch of different things, too," she added. "Sometimes they read things maybe they wouldn’t have chosen before. It’s nice to see the different age levels on a team together, too.”
The Grand Battle will be held Thursday, May 9 at Five Points Theatre in downtoswn Barrie where four teams — Assikinack, Codrington, Terry Fox and Oakley Park public schools — will compete against each other for the win.
“It’s like the Oscars for these readers," Sydor said. "We roll out the red carpet and we make this a big splash event. Competition is fierce and energy is high."
