During the 2021-2022 school year, we hosted our second-annual Reading Rumble challenge. The secondary school winner was Bauxite High School and the elementary school winner was Parkway Elementary.

All schools in Saline County were invited to participate in this county-wide reading challenge. Schools competed against each other to read the most minutes during the 2021-2022 school year. Students and teachers chose books that were of interest to them, and we provided an app called Beanstack so participants could keep track of their reading and earn virtual badges.

All students and staff were challenged to read 100 minutes per week for 20 weeks. For every 100 minutes logged, they earned a virtual badge. To complete the challenge and earn a trophy, they had to complete all 20 weeks of reading. The elementary school and secondary school which read the most minutes earned a travelling trophy for their school and a prize.

Bauxite High School students read 39,961 minutes while Parkway Elementary students read for 3,196,853 minutes. In total, Saline County students read for 3,430,991 minutes.

“This was our first year competing in the Reading Rumble,” said Bauxite High School Media Specialist, Trina Baxley. “I didn’t think we would stand a chance against bigger schools, but I passed out the bookmarks to students when they checked out books. We were very excited to learn that we read the most minutes in Saline County for secondary schools.”

Students were able to read by checking out books from their public or school libraries, or by using Sora, provided through their schools. Sora is an eLibrary platform that schools can provide to students by partnering with the library. The platform offers a large collection of digital eBooks and eAudiobooks.

“A student was so pumped she found an audiobook for a book she had,” says Parkway Elementary Media Specialist, Chrystal Burke, “She listened as she read along.”

We will be hosting our third-annual Reading Rumble challenge for the 2022-2023 school year, starting in September. Schools wanting to participate can email Youth Services Manager, Wendy Christy at WendyC@SalineCountyLibrary.org.