[ISLMA-Share] Battle of the Books - How do you get books in the students hands?

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This is my first year doing BotB and at our K-5 elementary school we have 4 teams of 7 students. So, quite a bit different than your situation!  Even so, our library only had 2 of the books on the list this year and only one copy of one of those 2.  Hence, I had to find a way to purchase 1-2 copies of the remaining books with a budget of $200 for books, supplies, and the t-shirts.  I was counting on 1-2 copies being sufficient if students also used the public library systems to find books, ebooks, and audiobooks.  This has proven mostly true, though a few additional copies of longer books and the more popular books would've been helpful.  And with a program your size, I imagine you'd need more like 3 copies of each!

In the early fall, I worked with our librarian to find as many books as possible through Scholastic and used points from the book fairs to purchase those books.  We sent out an email to everyone on our PTA email list asking for specific book donations and received a few that way.  One parent had a donation birthday party for her child and asked guests to bring donations for either the Humane Society or Battle of the Books.  That was creative!  And the remaining books (about 5) I purchased through Amazon.  When it came time to purchase incentives and supplies, I asked for donations from the PTA parents at a meeting and received some cash and checks in hand that night.  When I gathered t-shirt sizes, I sent out an email clearly stating that no payment was required, but that a donation of $6 (per shirt) was appreciated.  I'd say about 6 parents covered the cost of their students' shirts.  In the end, we had just enough money to cover it all and no one was required to pay to participate.
Speaking of Battle of the Books, does anyone have resources you can post for students to "study" the books, like quizzes?
Thank you!Jaimee


      From: Email list for the Illinois School Library Media Association <islma at list.railslibraries.info>
 To: islma at list.railslibraries.info 
 Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2017 3:24 PM
 Subject: [ISLMA-Share] Battle of the Books - How do you get books in the students hands?
   
I started the Battle of the Books last year with my 5th graders.  We had 15 teams of 5 students.  The Curriculum Director, the PTO and my library budget covered the cost of the books, medals and small prizes.
This year I opened it up to 4th-8th grade.  I have 39 teams of 5 students each.  The PTO and the Foundation covered the books, medals and prizes.  However, the PTO asked that I charge $10 per student next year to participate.  I am not comfortable with this because I don't want to exclude people.
Are your students responsible for finding the books?  Do you order extras and check them out?  Do you charge a fee?
The administration has asked me to do a little fact finding so I am reaching out to the great library braintrust.
Thank you in advance for your responses.  
-- 
Jina Rappaport, MLIS
Elementary & Junior High Learning Centers
Oak Grove School District 68
1700 S. O'Plaine Road
Green Oaks, Illinois 60048
847.367.4120 x2710http://ogschool-library.weebly.com
"There is no such thing as a child who hates to read; there are only children who have not found the right book."

   
Frank Serafini
   
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