The Library Vault

Bracket Season is almost here! Yes, as February draws to a close, many of us can’t help but get caught up in March Madness, the college basketball tournament put on by the NCAA every March. Many of us know the tension of watching your favorite team battle to win it all, or the thrill of watching a smaller team upset the tournament favorite and begin a “Cinderella” run for the title. Maybe you know the agony of having your bracket “busted” – where one big upset can derail your predictions for the rest of the tournament.

In the spirit of a little springtime competition, we’re bringing bracket-fever to Russell Library in our inaugural Tournament of Books, where you can vote on the top books read last year to help determine the Book Champion of 2024! We’ve taken 16 of our most checked-out books and put them into a knockout-style bracket, where you’ll vote in head-to-head matchups until only one remains.

Which celebrity autobiography engrossed you the most this year? Loved that one Colleen Hoover book? Hated it? Just couldn’t get enough of Ina Garten’s cooking? This is your chance to make your voice heard, and help us find the year’s most beloved book at Russell Library!

Think you know how it’s all going to shake out? Then fill out your own bracket as a part of our Book Bracket Prediction Contest! Be sure to really think about your picks, and aim for the grand prize: the highest scoring submission will win a copy of the winning book and a $20 Downtown Middletown gift card.

Excited yet? Without further ado, here are the 16 books competing for the title:

The sixteen nominees for the Tournament of Books

How did we decide on these books? With circulation statistics! These were the Top 8 Adult Nonfiction and Top 8 Adult Fiction books that Russell Library patrons checked out in the last twelve months. We’ve numbered each group of books from 1-8, in order of most-checked-out to least-checked-out. Then, the first-round matchups are “seeded” – meaning the top ranked book faces of against the eighth ranked book, etc.

As you can imagine, this results in some spicy first-round matchups. Prince Harry vs Britney Spears in the first round? Count me in! Read on to see all of the first round matchups.

(Naturally, there are far more than 16 books that readers enjoyed this last year. Here are a few “honorable mentions” that didn’t quite make the cut):

Book Bracket Prediction Contest

Starting Friday, March 1st, you’ll be able to pick up your form for the Book Bracket Prediction Contest at the circulation desk. You’ll have until Friday, March 15th at 5:00pm to submit your predictions to the circulation desk. The first couple weeks of March is a great opportunity to catch up on any books that might be on your TBR (To Be Read) list!

You’ll be awarded points for making correct predictions in each matchup. The owner of the submission with the highest point total by the end of the tournament will receive a copy of the winning book and a $20 Downtown Middletown gift card. The Downtown Middletown gift card is accepted at over 90 locations on or around Main Street in Middletown! Check here for a list of locations that will accept it.

Voting in the Tournament of Books

Once bracket prediction submissions close, voting for the first round will begin on Monday, March 18th! There are four rounds of voting, so each will only last a few days. Voting can be done in-person or online. You’ll definitely want to follow us on our Instagram (@russelllibrarymiddletown), where we’ll post the link to online voting form for each round. The link for each round of online voting will also be available on the Russell Library homepage when voting is live.

For in-person voting, you may cast one vote per person, per day. We’ll be updating the results on our large wall display in the lobby as they come in, so be sure to stop by and check it out!

And yes, anyone can vote! There is no requirement to have read the books in order to cast a vote, but we certainly encourage you to pick up one that interests you from the display cart!

We hope you enjoy getting to know the books that the Middletown community loved most this year, and we hope you have a little fun and get into the competitive spirit with the prediction contest! The winner of the Book Bracket Prediction Contest will be announced once the tournament is over. Be sure to check the rules and instructions for filling out a bracket on the back of the print-out.

Happy March, and Happy Reading from Russell Library!