March Madness

March Madness is a fun library event to build school community during the month of March. You could easily begin MM mid-March because the basketball tournament doesn’t begin until then, anyway. The goal  of the event is simply to promote the love and excitement of reading good books, build school community, and increase foot traffic in the library.

(Note: It baffles me that some librarians do not want people in the library. Libraries should be the hub of the school! That’s where books are found and making occurs and learning is driven by your passion! We should be doing everything we can to get people IN the library, not drive them out.)

This will be my second year hosting the event and the second year that my school participates. Last year, I just threw March Madness together based off of some blogs I had seen, figuring it would be a fun activity to do in the library. My students absolutely loved the idea and ran with it. I ended up promoting books on the announcements each day in March thanks to my super supportive administration. It’s crazy - students still remember from last year which books were ranked where and which books beat other books. The circulation for many of the March Madness books skyrocketed during and after the month of March. On my end of the year report and reflection, I decided I would definitely host the event again.

If this is your first time working with a bracket, here’s what you need to know:

Brackets are how sports playoffs are typically organized. The teams that make the playoffs are arranged from best record to worst and placed on the bracket accordingly. The #1 team plays against the worst team (often #16), #2 plays against #15, #3 plays against #14, etc. Some brackets are more complicated, but basically whichever teams wins gets to move on, and the losing team is out. On the bracket, you follow the lines to see who each team plays when. So if #1 wins in the first round, they would play the winner of #8 vs. #9. Take a peek at my bracket from last year and you will be able to see which book moved on during each round.

How to select the books

I select the top 16 checked out books for the year. Using the report in Destiny, our most checked out book at this point last year was Babymouse, so I placed the picture of the cover on #1. Guinness World Records was #2, so its picture went at #2, and so on. To find this data in Destiny…

• Select the “Reports” tab
• Click “Library Reports”
• Go ALL the way down and click the last link, “Top/Bottom Titles”
• Modify the variables. I choose to show the top 50 titles for the past 9 months. I do not include circulations from in-library use, and I do not limit the material type, call numbers, or reading levels.

Of course, it does not have to be done this way. Some librarians use other methods besides data to select their books. I know librarians who select the books themselves, and others that have the students select the books to go on the bracket. There are definitely benefits to this strategy. Personally, I have very few multiples of books in my library. Most of my multiples are state award nominees and our most popular series. However there are plenty of books that are well loved and well known because teachers use them for read alouds. Two such books that come to my mind right away are Fish in a Tree and The Book with No Pictures. Although these books did not make the top 16 checkouts this year, I have no doubt that they would receive a large number of votes during March Madness. I’ve chosen to not go this route because I’ve found it’s easier for me (and harder for others to protest) when decisions are made based on data versus opinions.

However, I did change my selection approach slightly for year two. For some reason, certain books in a series (specifically graphic novel series and Guinness World Records) were not previously differentiated on Destiny. Babymouse, Bone, and Lunch Lady made the cut last year due to this reason. When I looked at the data for each individual book, none of the books had enough checkouts to make the top sixteen books of the year, so I did not include the series for year two. I also decided to “retire” the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series from March Madness so it does not win every single year. No one likes the Yankees! Taking these steps also ensured that a few picture books and beginner chapter books made the bracket, which were definitely missing last year.

Predicting the brackets

This is not a step that every school takes, but it is definitely a fun one that builds excitement and tension each time a winner is announced.

The week before March Madness begins, I have my students predict which books they believe will win each round. They fill out an initial bracket and turn it in to me. I make a copy of the bracket and give it back so participants may check their bracket throughout the month as the winners are announced. I also encourage the staff to fill out brackets and I fill one out as well. This step provides built in conversation about books each day between peers and teachers. Last year only students in grades 2-5 filled out brackets, but it was so fun that this year brackets will be filled out with their buddies! Each class from grades K-2 is paired up with a class from grades 3-5, so the big buddies will help the little buddies and have conversations about books. At the end of March Madness, I “score” the brackets, and students and staff with the closest correct predictions win a free book from the spring book fair!

Voting for their favorites

I have my students vote every day. I tell them we are voting for "the winner of March Madness and Claymont's favorite book of the year". Last year a printed off sheets of paper for students to vote on. That was a pain, but I did it to ensure foot traffic (no voting in classrooms online). This year I'm going to create a Google Form and place Chromebooks out on a table just for voting. The first day we will vote for #1 vs. #16, or Rump vs. Mary Walker Wears the Pants. I get on the announcements in the morning and share which books are competing for the day. The next day, I will announce the winner of Rump vs. Mary Walker, and I will share which books are competing that day (I just go down the side, so Drama vs. Navigating Early). After eight days, all of the "first rounds" will be complete (the matchups on the outside). Then the winners will start to play each other, so the winner of Rump vs. Mary Walker will play the winner of Drama vs. Navigating Early. 

Other librarians choose to vote differently. Some have their classes vote for all of the first round's matchups when they come to the library the first week of March. The second week of March, the students vote for all of the second round's matchups. Again, it's up to you. 

Eventually you will have one book from each side of the bracket compete against each other, and the winner is the overall winner of March Madness. 

Here’s this year’s bracket. Which book do you think will be the winner?? (My money is on Minecraft)