The Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) is a statewide voluntary reading motivation and comprehension program for students in grades 3-12. It was created to encourage and recognize students who enjoy reading, to broaden reading interests, to increase reading comprehension, and to promote teamwork and good sportsmanship in participating schools.

Each year, a list of 16 books is chosen by a committee of school and public librarians, and students form teams of 4-5 members to read and discuss the books. The teams then compete in a tournament-style competition in which they answer questions about the books in a quiz bowl format. The competition starts at the school level and then progresses to regional and state tournaments. In February, after months of preparation, teams came together at schools across the district and battled it out to determine their school champion.

The questions asked in the competitions cover the content of the books, so it's important for students to read each book carefully and remember important details. The teams are given a set amount of time to answer each question, and the team with the most correct answers at the end of the competition wins. This is no easy task and requires learning tiny details of each book, many of which students have committed to reading more than once!

Now that school champions have been determined it's time for Regionals! This is when school champions from Region 2 (southwest Oregon) battle it out to determine the regional champion. The top three teams from Regionals will go on to battle at the state level. Regional tournament information is listed below.

Congratulations to all students who participated in OBOB this year and thank you to all the teachers, library staff, and volunteers who make OBOB possible! You are appreciated! Best of luck to all headed to Regionals!

Regional Tournament information:

• Elementary Regional OBOB Tournament: 9 am, March 11th @ South Eugene High School
• Middle School Regional OBOB Tournament: 8:15 am, March 11th @ Crow High School
• High School Regional OBOB Tournament: 5:00-8:00 pm, March 15th @ North Eugene High School

In March we get to celebrate National Reading Month! We kick off the month by celebrating Read Across America! This year's theme is "Celebrate Diversity". Join the fun as we celebrate reading and diverse books! Read Across America Day is March 2nd. You can read more about it here.

Celebrate all week long with the choice board below that highlights the theme, "Reading is For Everyone" with ebooks for each day that connect to one theme. All the ebooks are available through Capstone for free!

Have a great celebration!

On March 2nd at 10 am PT, join authors Shannon and Dean Hale and illustrator LeUyen Pham as they share about the making of the Princess in Black series.

You're invited to a royal ball with the authors and illustrator of the wildly popular Princess in Black series! Grab your superhero disguise or your costume finest, and join us to celebrate Read Across America Day. Get to know our favorite monster-fighting princess, Magnolia, and her fellow masked superheroes.

The creators will discuss the history of the Princess in Black and introduce readers to their newest book in the series The Princess in Black and the Prince in Pink. Plus, learn how to draw the Princess in Black from illustrator LeUyen Pham!

All elementary schools across the district are invited to participate in March Reading Madness, a district-wide reading challenge to encourage students to pick up a book and read for their own enjoyment. This event is a competition between all elementary schools to see which school can read the most minutes and get the most participation in 4J. In an effort to allow for equal opportunity, the number of minutes will be divided by the student enrollment. We will also look at overall participation in a school. School staff can join the fun and participate as well. Start a school competition to see if students can read more minutes than staff. Encourage students by giving them an incentive such as a dance party, staff can promise to do something crazy like die their hair or get duct taped to a wall, be creative and have fun! The goal is to get students reading for fun and to create a culture of reading in schools.

Beanstack is super easy to use and is the easiest way to track reading minutes and participation. Students log in via Clever by clicking on the Beanstack button under Library and Information Resources on the school's home page. Here is a quick video that shows how to access Beanstack and log minutes.

If you need assistance getting started, reach out to Amy Page or just schedule a visit here.

Have fun and happy reading!

Storyvoice shared ten new live author read-alouds coming up in March. These events are a great way for students to connect to authors and are totally free! Sign up to join here.

Let's celebrate the amazing accomplishments of women in history. Check out the book collections and resources on the choice board.

Join the fun and explore new tools and activities on Digital Learning Day on March 15th. Find resources and activities here and explore the choice board below with all kinds of digital fun.

For those of you digging deep into research, the Library of Congress offers primary resources and tools for classroom use. Their website offers steps to getting started with helpful instructions and video tutorials that make accessing primary documents easily. If you need help, high school teachers and students can contact their librarians for assistance.

Middle and elementary schools beginning research can find all our databases and resources to get you started in this choice board.

Save the Dates: Friends of the Library Giant Book Sale

The Friends of Eugene Public Library's annual giant book sale is back! Join in this beloved tradition and shop for a good cause on Saturday, April 15, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., and Sunday, April 16, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., at Lane Events Center (Fairgrounds). The sale features thousands of gently-used and like-new books, most at the bargain price of only $2, including a large selection of children's books. Proceeds help support Summer Reading programs for kids and teens. Learn more.

Want to help make it happen? Now's the time to donate your gently-used books and DVDs for others to enjoy. There are multiple drop-off spots around town, including the Downtown Library's garage; or if you have a large collection, the Friends will pick it up. Additional info about donating. Or you can volunteer; high school students can earn service hours for their time. Sign up to receive info about volunteering at the sale.

Celebrate college basketball's March Madness with reading! March Book Madness is a fun way to engage students in reading new books from genres they may not normally read. It's easy to participate. There are brackets for all ages: picture books, middle grade, and young adult. Students don't have to read all the books to participate, they can just vote on the book they want to win. You can even read the books together as a class. Brackets start with the Sweet Sixteen and at the end of each week, students or classes place their votes, and the next week, the Elite Eight will be revealed, then the Final Four until the final two books remain.

Some of the books are available in Sora, our district digital collection, log in with your 4J username and password.

Check out the website for brackets, voting, and more! Have fun!

Makerspaces are an awesome way to promote critical thinking and collaboration, as well as incorporate engineering and design. A makerspace can be as simple as an origami craft or as techy as programming a mircro:bit into a remote-controlled burglar alarm. 4J has some pretty cool robotics kits available for check out.

Learn about these fun tech tools on our Robotics and Coding website. If you don't know anything about robotics or are a bit intimidated by it all, never fear! Kellyclare Gardner and Nicholas Hadley developed some lesson plans and many super helpful tools to get students programming robots in no time! These can be found on the Robotics and Coding website as well.

If you're not quite ready for robotics and coding, but would like to get a makerspace started in your library or classroom, check out the makerspace ideas below to get started with activities that require minimal supplies and start making today!

Students and staff have access to awesome books to celebrate Women's History Month in our district digital collection. K-5 readers can find books in the choice board below (remember to log your reading in Beanstack, log in via Clever). Find books that feature amazing women in history for all ages in Sora, our district digital collection, and log in with your 4J username and password.

March is here and so is the new choice board! There is plenty to explore!

Email: page_a@4j.lane.edu
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