Nine teams of children in grades four-six competed in the library’s 37th annual Battle of the Books competition held at Eastern Elementary School in Hagerstown on Saturday, February 24 and Saturday, March 9. The program, conducted by the Washington County Free Library, is designed to reward kids for reading in the same way children are lauded for participating in sports or in the arts. Teams registered in November and read a set of fifteen books provided by the library to prepare for the competition. The set of books included classics, Newbery Award winners, and contemporary children’s fiction. Teams also completed two creative projects which were scored by library staff. The project scores, written round scores, and the final round scores were added up to determine the overall winners.
The participating teams were:
Boonsboro The Book Wizards
Emma K. Doub Girlie Readers
Emma K. Doub Reading Eagles
Fountaindale The Bookanators
Hancock Panther Page Turners
Homeschool Title Wave
Smithsburg Smartest Cookies
Williamsport Leader Readers
Williamsport 7 Eyes of the Tiger
During the final round of competition, teams answered 45 questions read by Jeff Ridgeway, Head of Youth Services. Each team captain held up a paper displaying their answers after each question. After the competition, the teams received medallions presented by Jeff and Abigail Andrews from the Children’s Department. The top three teams were:
1st Place- Smithsburg Smartest Cookies
2nd Place- Boonsboro The Book Wizards
3rd Place- Williamsport Leader Readers
