PORT ANGELES — Thirteen teams of Clallam County fourth-graders will do battle in a trivia-style competition at 6:30 p.m. today.
The competition will be at the Raymond Carver Room at the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St.
Battle of the Books 2018 is the culmination of a year-long collaborative project between the North Olympic Library System — which oversees public libraries in Port Angeles, Sequim, Clallam Bay and Forks — the Port Angeles, Sequim, Quillayute Valley and Crescent public school districts and the private Queen of Angels Catholic School.
Throughout the year, more than 240 fourth-graders participated in the program, each of whom received free copies of the five books read as part of the project.
Books read are “El Deafo” by Cece Bell, “The War That Saved My Life” by Kimberly Brubaker, “The Astounding Adventures of Broccoli Boy” by Frank Cottrell Boyce, “Fish in a Tree” by Lynda Mullaly Hunt, and “A Dragon’s Guide to the Care and Feeding of Humans” by Laurence Yep and Joanne Ryder.
Each student also received a T-shirt featuring art created by a fellow student during a design contest held last year.
This year’s participating schools include Jefferson, Greywolf, Forks Intermediate, Olympic Peninsula Academy, Helen Haller, Franklin, Roosevelt, Queen of Angels, Crescent, Dry Creek, and Hamilton elementary schools, as well as Queileute Tribal School.
For five months prior to the final competition, library staff led book club discussions at each of the schools to support and encourage student reading.
All students participating in the battle must check in at the library by 6:10 tonight.
Failure to check in on time will result in an alternate student being used on the team, organizers said.
“The program is designed to encourage kids to be lifelong readers,” said Jennifer Knight, youth services librarian.
“We want reading to be fun. Having a Battle of the Books program is a way to cultivate that.”
The Battle of the Books program is supported by the Port Angeles Friends of the Library, the Friends of Sequim Library, and the Friends of the Forks Library.
For information about this and other programs for youth, visit the library website at www.nols.org, contact the Youth Services Department of the Port Angeles Library at 360-417-8500, ext. 7705, or send an email to youth@nols.org.
