![Hosting the SCLA Casptone Mentor Dinner outside allowed for more attendees on September 27, 2021 at Silver Creek. This event would’ve usually been held inside. According to Lauren Kohn, a SCLA 12 teacher, “If we have a higher number of people, as long as we can host the event outside, then that seems to be keeping every[one] safe”.](https://schsnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/sxMAIGbSYGodZkqmrvTi5YWcJ1ssWA08ApkeMLpp-900x675.jpeg)
Every year just before March, English and advisory classes throughout Silver Creek High School hand out brackets for Literary March Madness (LMM). This annual event organized by Silver Creek's librarians intends to promote reading for fun, as well as showcase student-favorite books.
Based on the NCAA’s March Madness, students fill in a bracket with their predictions on which books will advance, and then vote for their favorites. As of publishing, Literary March Madness is on its final round of voting and will end on March 13th.
Every year, hundreds of brackets are submitted by both students and staff.
“[I] like how it explores different books that you might not have read, and it [gives] you books that you want to read in the future.” Sophomore Jordan Sutorious said.
For AP Literature teacher Jason Lathrop, Literary March Madness is a breath of fresh air.
“I just think it's a really cool way to kind of break up the monotony of school,” Lathrop said.“It's my 30th year of teaching, and school gets monotonous for all of us.”
Silver Creek High School librarian Kristin Holtz pours a lot of love and dedication into this activity each year.
The way the brackets are designed is more complicated than you may think. Holtz first looks through databases like Destiny and Sora and chooses the top 50 books with the most unique checkouts from different individuals since August.
A questionnaire is then sent out in February where students can nominate books for Literary March Madness. Books with three or more nominations are added to the pool, and then the librarians decide which are ultimately added to the bracket based on this election, as well as some new releases for variety.
While building the bracket can be hard, Holtz still looks forward to it every year.
“I have loved Literary March Madness since it began,” Holtz said. “It’s an opportunity to look at books a little differently. And I think that’s what I love about it. I love building. I mean [building the] bracket is hard work, but I love it because it gives me a chance to really showcase the diversity of books that are there.”
Literary March Madness is a labor of love, and Lathrop emphasizes how fortunate Silver Creek is to have such involved librarians.
“I feel really fortunate to work in a school where we have a library that doesn't just unlock the doors for students,” Lathrop said. “They do things in there to try to make it a welcoming place, whether it's the furniture, their attitudes, a puzzle, [Literary] March Madness, the book clubs, [they] go overboard to make the library the heart of our school.”
While the deadline to turn in brackets has already passed, voting is still ongoing. Students can vote by scanning QR codes posted around the school.
“I've been to other high schools, and the library is a gathering place, but it wasn't the same at either of my other schools as it is here,” Lathrop said.
