Burlington Library Taking Part In 'Minute Madness' Reading Competition

BURLINGTON, MA — The Madness has returned to the Massachusetts library scene.

Beginning Wednesday, March 1, Minute Madness pits 21 libraries from around the Commonwealth — including the Burlington Public Library — against one another to see which library's patrons can log the most reading time.

The all-ages competition — won by Georgetown Public Library in 2022 — opens with "free for all" week, from which the top 16 libraries will emerge.

Then, an NCAA Basketball Tournament-style bracket will be created as the libraries go head-to-head until a champion is crowned. Burlington Public Library could find itself matched up against local rivals like: Wilmington Memorial Library, Tewksbury Public Library or Bedford Free Public Library.

"Burlington is thrilled to be participating in the Minute Madness competition," Cara Enos, Burlington Public Library's head of circulation, told Patch. "Burlington is recruiting as many readers as possible and we are confident that our patrons and readers can compete with the best."

All types of reading and listening materials count toward the competition, including: books, audiobooks, graphic novels, magazines and newspapers.

Beginning Wednesday, Patrons can log minutes on the Burlington Public Library website. Patrons interested in logging their minutes on paper can visit the library, located at 22 Sears St., for a paper log.

After the "free for all" round concludes on March 7, the top 16 libraries will be seeded No. 1 to No. 16 based on their minutes during the first week.

From March 8- 15, the head-to-head competition will feature No. 1 vs. No. 16, No. 2 vs. No. 15, No. 3 vs. No. 14, and so on.

From the round of 16, eight teams will move on to the round of 8, which will take place from March 15-22.

The Final Four libraries will square off during the week of May 22-29. The last two libraries standing will battle it out from March 29 to April 5.

The competing libraries this year are from:

• Bedford
• Burlington
• Carlise
• Danvers
• Dedham
• Georgetown
• Littleton
• Lunenburg
• Natick
• Mashpee
• Methuen
• Milford
• Newbury
• Northborough
• Rockport
• Rutland
• Sandwich
• Shrewsbury
• Tewksbury
• Uxbridge
• Wilmington