Battle of the Books 2016

Somers Library Battle of the Books Team 

Winners Teen Division!!

On Saturday, October 15^th 2016, one of the Somers Library teams was declared champions of the Westchester Library System Battle of the Books (6^th – 10^th division)!!!  This fun but intense battle was the culmination of a nearly 6 month process of reading, reviewing, team practice and dedication by all the Somers Library Battle of the Books team members.  Although our teen team won this year, the Somers Library is very proud of both of the teams we sent to the Battle of the Books!!

Earlier this year, we asked for Somers volunteers from grades 4^th through 10th to represent the Somers Library in the Westchester Library System 3^rd Annual Battle of the Books.  The Battle of the Books is a book-based trivia tournament for Westchester youth with the goal to promote a love of reading, to encourage youth to think of their local public library as a resource for entertainment and to inspire teamwork & good sportsmanship in an atmosphere of friendly competition.  The battle teams are broken down to 2 levels:  one with teams from grades 4^th-6^th and the other from grades 6^th-10^th.  Each team was expected to read five books, practice with their teammates for the battle and then represent the Somers Library this October at the Battle of the Books! Early on, we knew we had some bright, eager, enthusiastic kids willing to take this challenge! During the summer, each team member was given copies of the 5 books for their division, which were generously funded by the Friends of the Somers Library. We met as a large group during the summer, but the real intense practice sessions began with the beginning of the school year.  Each of the teams split up to work as separate groups and each team met at least 9 times to review and practice for battle day! On the evening before the battle we had a Pizza Party and Pep Rally to show them how much we appreciated their hard work.

On Saturday morning October 15^th at 9:00 am, our two teams gathered at the Ossining High School along with twenty seven other teams who represented a total of 17 libraries in Westchester County.  The Lightning Readers, the Somers Library children’s team, fought valiantly and with exuberant team spirit in their age bracket and made a great showing!  The Popcornians, the Somers Library teen team, not only knew these books extremely well, they really bonded as a team. Each member contributed their own individual talents to make this a battle win an example of an ultimate team effort! The battle day proved the teen division to be a very challenging and intense battle day with a four way tie going into the semi-finals! The Somers Library’s teen team, the Popcornians, kept their cool during this intense process to take their place in the championship fight for the trophy versus our neighbors from North Salem.  After a scoring neck and neck early on, the Somers pulled away with a final score of 12-3!!!

 

We could not have asked for a more hardworking and dedicated group.  The Somers Library would like to thank the team members, as well as their parents, and coaches. Additionally, the Somers Library would like to thank all the volunteer readers & question makers. And last but not least thank you to the Friends of the Somers Library for their financial support. 

We congratulate both the teams on their amazing dedication and teamwork:

The Somers Library Popcornians (the 6^th-10^th grade team) (WLS Battle of the Books 2016 Champions): Leigha Carnow, Maria Klimentova, Aine Hoekstra, Jordan Han, Nitin Seshadri, Max Caron, Matthew Kushner, Marguerite Pugliese, Keira Ferretti, Jaewon Yeo and Amanda Jen.

The Somers Library Lightning Readers (the 4^th-6^th grade team) included: Sean Kim, Julia Wilkinson, Jay Wilkinson, Connor Entenberg, Nicholas Maurantonio, Sebastian Wissa, Emma Sledzik, and Sara Vala