St Ignatius Catholic School dominated the Lera Parchment Battle of the Books, at the George Town Public Library this past Saturday morning, 24 May 2014.

Teams from St Ignatius won both age-groups. The Neurotic Nerds won the fifth- to sixth- grade competition while the Cadbury Craniums finished at the top of the seventh- to eighth- grade category. Cayman International School (CIS) was the other participating school.

Working together in groups of between four and eight students, young people answered questions drawn from a list of 20 books that they had been given three months to read. In total 55 students from both schools turned out to show off their knowledge at the half-day event at the George Town Public Library.

Organisers were the Cayman Islands Information Professionals (CIIP), in partnership with the Cayman Islands Public Library System (CIPLS).

Praising the young participants’ level of interest, CIIP Programme Officer and CIS School Library Media Specialist, Ashley Welch added: “It was a great success! Students read and studied for months in preparation, and this dedication paid off in their battles on Saturday. It is always a joy to see young people get excited about reading.”

CIIP Chair Paul Robinson, who is also Deputy Director of the Public Library System, says the Battle of Books demonstrates the continuing relevance of libraries.

“It was a fantastic competition which shows that, even in a world of e-books, online sources and today’s economic challenges, libraries remain at the heart of free community learning and information”.

Battle of the Books is based on an American reading incentive programme, and organisers are seeking the funding to make it a recurring feature on the library calendar. For more information email: [email protected].

Organisers plan to invite Government schools to take part in 2015. (GIS)

Photo captions: Photos by GIS

Photo 1: Teams from St Ignatius and Cayman International School took part in the Battle of the Books this past Saturday

Photo 2: The quiz master and judges were drawn from Cayman Information Professionals and the Life Literacy programme

Photo 3: The Neurotic Nerds during competition

Photo 4. Some young supporters came out to cheer their fellow students.