Wilmington Library Taking Part In 'Minute Madness' Reading Competition

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

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

Wilmington actually reached the finals of the 2022 competition, where it was beaten by Georgetown Public Library.

This year's all-ages competition 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.

Wilmington Memorial Library Library could find itself matched up against rivals like Tewksbury Public Library, Burlington Public Library and, yes, the defending champs from Georgetown Public Library.

"Last year, Wilmington made it to the final round of Minute Madness before losing to worthy opponent Georgetown," Erin Driscoll, the Wilmington Memorial Library's adult services librarian, told Patch. "The challenge is three times bigger this year, with 21 libraries competing from across the state. The competition is going to be fun and fierce."

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

Wilmington patrons can register for the competition by clicking on the Minute Madness banner on the library's website. Minutes will be logged on Beanstack.

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 16-22.

The final four libraries will square off during the week of May 23-29. The last two libraries standing will battle it out from March 30 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