Media center specialist Rick Wright is hosting the media center’s own version of March Madness. 

Participants have a bracket of 16 books to review and will choose which ones they think will be most popular. After March 1, bracket submissions will close, and polls rating the books will be completed to reveal whose brackets were closest to guessing how popular books were.

“The whole idea is you fill out a bracket…and they try to guess which books would win the actual competition,” Wright said. 

This is not the first time this competition has taken place. Previously, multiple schools were involved, but the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to challenge entrees in 2020. 

Starr’s Mill alone will be holding the media center competition this year for its students, but Wright is putting a different spin on it. The specific books selected for the 2021 bracket have been discussed in the media center’s “First Chapter Fridays” podcast episodes.

“The main thing I want to do is make people aware of our podcast program we’re doing, and also just get kids to read,” Wright said. 

“First Chapter Fridays” allows students, faculty, and volunteers to read a chapter from a book of their choice to introduce it on the podcast. Podcast episodes are available on Schoology.

Because reading each individual book in order to rate it may take longer than one month, Wright explains that “First Chapter Fridays” will allow for much quicker assessments of the books. 

“You’re weeding out lots of quality books before you get to the final four, so it makes it a little more interesting how it’s actually going to play itself out,” Wright said.

Students interested in participating can pick up a bracket from any English teacher or from Wright in the media center. After polling takes place, winners of the most accurate brackets will receive prizes in April.