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Pasadena Unified students, librarians celebrate Battle of the Books; OEB wins regionals and is national runner-up
Summary
The board honored Battle of the Books participants from Octavia E. Butler Magnet, Thurgood Marshall and Elliott Arts Magnet; OEB won the Foothill regional competition and was announced as the national runner-up for School Library of the Year. Students credited the program with boosting reading and community at their schools.
The Pasadena Unified School District board recognized students and librarians who participated in the district’s first celebrated Battle of the Books competition and presented certificates and forthcoming trophies to participating teams.
Dr. Jan Hill introduced librarians from Elliott Arts Magnet, Octavia E. Butler Magnet (OEB) and Thurgood Marshall who led teams of students through the district competition. The district representative said OEB advanced to the Foothill regional competition on May 2 and “swept” the regional rounds against middle schools from La Cañada and Glendale to take first place in all three rounds.
Students from the participating schools described how the program encouraged deep reading across genres, helped them form friendships across grade levels and raised reading comprehension. Multiple students repeated a plea to the board about the future of their school: “Save Marshall.” One student representing OEB described improving reading levels by “two whole grade levels” after joining the program.
Beth Ulchewski, library services manager for Los Angeles County Library (LACO), congratulated the district and said LACO will host a countywide Battle of the Books next year so other districts can participate. Staff also announced that OEB was selected as the national runner-up for the American Association of School Librarians’ National School Library of the Year recognition.
District leaders thanked DonorsChoose and PEF for funding support and encouraged trustees and families to visit school libraries to see the program’s impact. Students asked the board to preserve the programs and school sites that fostered the competition; no formal board action regarding school closures was taken during this item.
The board took pictures with the students after the recognition and then moved on to the public comment portion of the agenda.
