The Patchogue-Medford Library is gearing up for the first county-wide Adult Battle of the Books. The event will pit adult readers from the local library against others from Suffolk County in a trivia-style competition.
“This is the first time that we’re trying to do this for adults. We’ve done Battle of the Books for middle-schoolers, and we’ve done it for high-schoolers, but we’ve never done it for adults, So I’m really excited to see if we can get adults interested,” said Hanna Auer, Adult Reference Department librarian.
The contest takes place on July 18 in Sachem, but the time to get ready is now.
Participants have a few months to finish the three chosen books, and they will be quizzed on trivia from each.
“It’s going to be three rounds of pub-style trivia, and each round is going to be focused one of the books. We’re hoping to put together a team of at least eight people,” Auer said.
Carefully chosen by the librarians, the three books are nonfiction The Art Thief by Michael Finkel and for fiction, both Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. “It’s a good range,” she said. She considers this an opportunity for adults to expand their horizons, maybe revisiting a classic or experimenting with nonfiction.
Auer has a special reason for hoping that the Adult Battle of the Books is a success. She participated in similar trivia contests for many years as a youth and recalls, “It’s always a lot of fun."
The contest, which comes at the suggestion of Longwood library, is expected to draw at least 10 teams. The winning library will get a prize. For details check out the website.