Updated as of 3:18 p.m. on April 3 to include video.
Burlington, North Carolina; Burlington, Massachusetts; and Burlington, Wisconsin, are facing off in an epic battle — of reading. With 27 Burlingtons across the U.S., these three are logging readers’ minutes to claim the title of the most book-loving Burlington in the country. Participants from each town are tracking their reading and submitting their minutes, contributing to their hometown’s total.
Emery Lai, adult programming coordinator for Alamance County Public Libraries, said she thought the idea, originally pitched in Burlington, Massachusetts, was fantastic.
“We want to see how many Burlingtons can compete to have the most readers, the most minutes read,” Lai said. “Basically, it's just readers versus readers, Burlington versus Burlington.”
Lai said not only readers in Burlington, North Carolina, can participate, but all of Alamance County can help read the town to victory.
“Alamance County is included in the Burlington bet,” Lai said. “We couldn't exclude Alamance County when Burlington is part of Alamance County.”
The “Battle of the Burlingtons” was originally proposed by the programming and marketing librarian at the Burlington, Massachusetts, Public Library, Daniel Barbour. Barbour said he reached out to the top 10 biggest Burlingtons, but only heard back from two.
“It was either nobody emailed back or they emailed back like, ‘We're in — this is exciting,’” Barbour said. “The gauntlet has been thrown and we are ready for a fight, and it's in the best possible way.”
Barbour said the competition is almost like March Madness — and although some people aren’t into sports, it gives them a chance to join another friendly competition.
“If you're a reader, and you're a voracious reader, it's great for you, because now is your time to shine in a competitive way,” Barbour said. “If you're not a voracious reader, a competition with your local library is very accessible.”
He hopes this competition allows readers to find accessible resources at public libraries.
“Maybe it's audiobooks or newspapers or magazines — things that you have never explored before — because you want to be a part of the fun,” Barbour said.
The Burlington, North Carolina, public libraries have advertised the battle with flyers and with the power of social media. Lai said many organizations and schools, like the Alamance Burlington School System, are usually tagged in comments.
“The link became available on March 10, and it's available on our website, available through social media and available on every single desk,” Lai said. “There's a QR code at every single desk available in all of our libraries, and that's how they should be logging.”
Time reading can be spent on many different genres: novels, fanfiction, articles, short stories, audiobooks, recipes and an example Lai gave — cake boxes.
“It doesn't matter. You’re reading. You read every day. You read signs every day,” Lai said.
As of Thursday, March 20, Burlington, North Carolina, has the most logged reading minutes with 147,314 minutes but is ranked third overall.
Lai said there are over 57,000 library card holders in Alamance County and encourages readers to log their reading time in the hope of showing off Burlington’s hometown pride.
“Glory. Eternal glory for the bigger, better Burlington,” Lai said.