Fraser Valley Regional Library

How it works

Librarians from Fraser Valley Regional Library work with school librarians to excite grade 4 & 5 students about the Reading Link Challenge.

Interested students form teams of six or seven players. Each team is responsible for knowing the contents of six books. Every player is responsible for reading at least one book. Kids get the books in November and read until February. All teams then participate in one or more levels of Challenge:

1. School Challenge –  All teams challenge other teams in their school.
2. Library Challenge -  School winning teams challenge each other at the FVRL branch library.
3. Community Challenge – FVRL Library Challenge winning teams challenge each other.  Coquitlam and Surrey Library systems hold similar challenges.
4. Grand Challenge – Winning teams from FVRL, Coquitlam and Surrey Library systems challenge each other to determine an overall winning team.

Reading Link Challenge Student Newsletter (pdf)

Reading Link Challenge Mission

To encourage reading as a fun and recreational activity that allows Grade 4 and 5 students of all reading abilities to engage in the sport of reading.

Goals

1. To ensure the participation of children with lower reading scores throughout the region.
2. To foster teamwork and cooperative thinking.
3. To build strong relationships between public libraries and local schools.
4. To share quality children's literature with participants that represents a diversity of experiences at a variety of reading levels.

History

In the later 1930s, the Battle of the Books was a weekly radio show that used a quiz bowl format to test children's knowledge of good literature. Questions about characters, plots and settings were answered by teams representing different elementary schools.

The Battle of the Books program moved to a library setting in 1993 at Kalamazoo Public Library (Michigan). It was used to encourage Grade 4 and 5 students to have fun with reading. In 1996, a similar project was undertaken at Seattle Public Library. In 2002, Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam Public Libraries joined the challenge, and in 2004 the entire Fraser Valley Regional Library came on board. As of 2012, 13 library systems from across BC have joined the Challenge, spanning from Whistler to the Kootenays!

Reading Link Challenge titles for 2012 - 2013 are as follows:

	The Big One-Oh by Dean Pitchford
	Niagara Falls or Does It? by Henry Winkler
	That Boy Red by Rachna Gilmore
	Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Holm
	Running Out of Time by Margaret Haddix
	Frindle by Andrew Clement

FVRL Reading Link Timelines

•  September 2012 - Reading Link information package delivered to schools
•  October 2012 - Participating schools confirmed and books are ordered
•  November 2012 - Announcement of titles and distribution of the Challenge books
•  December 2012 - Check on progress and begin scheduling School Challenges
•  January 2013 - Team members finalized
•  February/March 2013 - School and Library challenges held
•  March 2013 - Community Challenges between winners of Library Challenge.  FVRL, Coquitlam and Surrey will each hold their own Community Challenges e
•  April 2013 - Grand Challenge between winners of FVRL, Coquitlam and Surrey Community Challenges

For more information, please contact Liza Morris.