Want to get kids to read? Perhaps you could tempt them by showing them the new video from the Seattle Public Library system. What, you ask, could be so tempting?
They have created a video that shows when they broke the world record for the longest book domino chain in history. The brainchild of two college students came to fruition with the help of 27 volunteers and took five tries to pull off.
The first several attempts failed, as they were accidentally knocked over before getting all the books set up. The fourth attempt was particularly disheartening because it was “about 10 books short of finishing,” according to Amy Twito, the library’s youth program manager.
“There were lots of shouts of jubilation as it got near the end, and then a lot of groans,” she said, adding that the team, by that point, had gotten “really fast at setting the books back up after each failure.”
The Seattle Public Library broke the world record for the longest book domino.
Image: Shutterstock
Around 11 p.m., the team finally achieved their goal. The library released the video which shows the last book being put in place and then the crescendo as all the books fell in succession.
In the end, the volunteers successfully set up a chain of 2,131 books. It took seven hours and 112 slices of pizza to make it to the end. A fun fact is that that part of the chain spelled out the word “read.”
The previous world record was a 1,000-book domino chain completed by a group in the U.K. in 2011. Confirmation of the new record is pending.
Even though it looks like fun, there was a purpose to the chain’s creation. The event marked the launch of the library’s Summer Reading Project. If this is something that can get more kids to read, perhaps it is a success. All the books used in the domino chain can be purchased at the upcoming Friends of The Seattle Public Library book sales.
