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Get ready, get set....READ!  It’s Battle Time…time for your 4th and 5th grade students to form teams for the annual Battle of the Books competition at the Racine Public Library. This is our tenth year of battle!

Battle of the Books is a literature contest for 4 th and 5 th grade students in Racine County. Teams comprised of up to four students are asked to read and become knowledgeable about the content of 40 books selected by Racine Public Library librarians.  Teams may be formed with students from the same or different schools. Teams with both 4th and 5th graders are accepted.

Meets are held in a public forum where team members are asked random questions about the books they read. Points are accumulated based on the number of right answers.  The team with the highest score among all participating teams is declared the champion. 

For more information please check out the Frequently Asked Questions or contact Anne Callaghan (262.636.9245).

Frequently Asked Questions

REGISTRATION
SCHEDULING
THE MEETS
THE QUESTIONS
THE WINNERS’ CIRCLE
OFFICIALS
OTHER QUESTIONS

REGISTRATION
Registration is now closed.

SCHEDULING
Each team is scheduled for one meet.

Meets are generally scheduled on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays after school and on Saturday afternoons in late February through early April. Meets are generally held at the Racine Public Library, 75 Seventh St, but may also be scheduled in other locations, such as schools.  Meet date, time and location will be sent to participating teams in January.

Space is available on the registration form to indicate dates the team is not available. If a team is unable to attend a scheduled meet every attempt will be made to reschedule.

THE MEETS
Participants should arrive 15 minutes early to check in and receive table assignments.  Meets last approximately one hour.

Each meet is divided into three rounds. Teams are asked five questions for each of the first two rounds, and three questions for the third.  Correct answers are always the title of a book. Points are issued for correct answers (5 pts for the first two rounds; 10 pts. for the third). A bonus point is available in the first two rounds for knowledge of author’s last name. Questions are read twice after which the team has 20 seconds to answer. 

THE QUESTIONS
Questions for all three rounds are formatted so that the answer will always be the title of the book. For example, “In which book does a spider save a pig?” Answer: Charlotte’s Web Author: White.

Librarians write approximately 25 questions per books.  With 40 books on the reading list, meet questions will be selected from a collection of approximately 1000. Questions are recycled once all questions have been used.

For more examples of sample questions from past years click here.

THE WINNERS’ CIRCLE
Teams with the top five scores go into the Winners’ Circle. The Racine Public Library will host a party for all participants, their families, and their coaches at which special recognition of Winners’ Circle teams will be made.

OFFICIALS
Racine Public Library staff act as meet officials. 

OTHER QUESTIONS
Contact Anne at 262.636.9245 or email anne.callaghan@racinelibrary.info for more information.

CALENDAR