What About BOB? Everything You Need to Know About Battle of the Books

The Battle of the Books is a competition where teams made up of (four or) five teens read the chosen books and then participate in a trivia contest about those books. It’s a fun way to get some recreational reading done and actually get rewarded for it with some great prizes.

As a team, you need to assign the books to be read by the various team members. You can have each team member read two books, have all team members read all of the books, or some combination between. It’s up to you.

You will need to have a responsible person who’s 18 years of age or older to be your Team Manager. The Team Manager is there to help you get organized and provide transportation on the night of the event. Many teams ask a teacher, a parent, or their school librarian to be their team manager.

Here are some of the Rules about checking out Battle Books

1. Sewickley & Moon's battle books may be borrowed for 1 week and renewed once.
2. Only 2 battle books are allowed on a team member’s card at any given time.
3. The books can only be borrowed on a library card belonging to a team member. Team managers should not check out books for their team members. Copies may be available through your school libraries, Sewickley Public Library, Moon Public Library, or other Allegheny County Libraries.
4. Overdue Fines are $.25 per day for Battle Books.
5. If the library doesn’t have the book because they’ve all been checked out, ask a reference librarian to order one for you from another library. (This service is free all the time.)

So what actually happens on the night of the battle you ask? Well here it is in a nutshell: You will need to arrive at Sewickley Academy's Hansen Library 15 minutes early so that you can sign in and set up your team's table. Each team will have a pad of paper and a pencil. Your Team Manager will actually be a Team Scorekeeper for another team to be named that night.

The Battle Moderator will begin by asking the first question twice. At the end of the second time, the Timekeeper will allow 20 seconds for teams to deliberate and write down their answers. After 20 seconds, one team will have the chance to answer out loud (the answering team will vary every question.) The Battle Moderator will announce the correct answer and the Team Scorekeepers will mark how many points were won. If your team answers correctly you get 4 points plus a bonus point if you can give the last name of the author. This means that each question is potentially worth 5 points. Answers must be specific. The moderator and judges will decide if an answer given is correct, and that decision is final. If time permits, there will be three rounds with one question from each book per round.

At the end of each round, scorecards will be collected and verified. At the end of the third round, the Judges will tally all of the scores. If there is a tie, a special lightning round will take place between the tied teams. Once a clear winner has been made, the Battle Moderator will announce the winners. The top three teams will win prizes.

So, are you interested? To get started:

• Grab a booklist and a registration form. Both will be available here and in the Teen Area on Monday, November 28.
  
• You’ll need to find four friends in your grade group (6th grade, 7th & 8th grade, or High School)
  
• Find a responsible adult to be a Team Manager
  
• Create a name for your team
• And start reading!!!
  
• Want to learn more? Come to one of our four informational team meetings. Come to the meeting that best suits your schedule!
• Tuesday, January 11 or Wednesday, January 12 from 7-7:30 at Moon Library or
  
• Tuesday, January 18 or Wednesday, January 19 from 7-7:30 at Sewickley Library
  
• All final registration forms are due at Sewickley or Moon Library on Monday, January 23, by 8PM.