We sometimes think of libraries as quiet places, silent sanctuaries for solitary worship of the word. And sometimes that is true. But one loud, even raucous annual event held at the Boston Public Library decisively disproves this notion.
The Associates of the Boston Public Library‘s 27th annual Hundred-Year Book Debate, taking place Tuesday, Feb. 10, promises to be as impassioned, theatrical, and even silly as its predecessors. The event was first held in 1999, and pitted 1899 novels; Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening” against Henry James’s “The Awkward Age” and “McTeague: A Story of San Francisco” by Frank Norris. Chopin, represented by author Jill McCorkle, was that year’s winner.
Over the event’s history, local writers such as Tom Perrotta, Andre Dubus III, Robert Pinsky, and the Globe’s Meredith Goldstein have appeared. Goldstein spoke up for Emily Post’s “Etiquette,” which was vanquished by Joyce’s “Ulysses” in the 2022 debate.
This year’s debate will feature three local experts, each advocating on behalf of a book published in 1926. Every debate’s books are chosen by a committee of the Associates, winnowed down from a longlist of notable books celebrating their publish date centennial, and then, each book is matched with a champion with expertise and enthusiasm for the pick.
Hilary Justice, the Patrick and Carol T. Hemingway Scholar-in-Residence at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, will argue for Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises,” the author’s first full novel. Writer-performer-educator Regie Gibson, the Commonwealth’s First Poet Laureate, will champion Langston Hughes’s debut poetry collection, “The Weary Blues.” And Jackie C. Horne, a professor of children’s literature at Simmons University, will make the case for the enduring classic, “Winnie-the-Pooh,” by A.A. Milne.
After each advocate makes the case for their best book of 1926, whether on literary, historical, or cultural merits, moderator Kennedy Elsey will elicit audience questions and a lively debate among the experts. At the end of the evening, a vote is taken by audience members — both those attending in person and those taking it in via Zoom can enter their vote via a QR code — and a winner, announced.
What’s the prize?
“Bragging rights!” says Lisa Fagin Davis, chair of the Hundred-Year Book Debate committee of the Associates of the BPL.
Davis, a professor of library science at Simmons and the executive director of the Medieval Academy of America, goes on to say that the winner does receive a few tangible goodies, including a gift certificate to a local bookstore. “When people are fighting for their favorite book, those are high stakes!”
This will be the fifth time Elsey, cohost of Mix 104.1’s morning radio program, “Karson and Kennedy,” has hosted the debate. It’s personal for her.
“I love the library,” she told us via email, after explaining that she’s resting her voice for the event. “When I moved to Boston the library was one of the first places I went. This event fills my book nerd heart.”
For Amanda Doyle-Bouvier, the newly appointed head of the Associates of the BPL, the debate is an exciting opportunity to raise awareness of the library’s extensive Special Collections, an archive of rare books and objects that date back to centuries before the library was established in 1848.
“One cool thing about these three books is that we have first-edition copies of all three of these titles in the BPL Special Collections,” she says, adding that the Milne and Hughes books are signed by their authors.
The Associates, Doyle-Bouvier continues, currently support the Special Collections to the tune of more than $1.2 million annually, funding conservation projects and 10 full-time staff positions devoted to “conserving, cataloging, digitizing, and curating the BPL’s millions of items housed within its renowned Special Collections.”
The Associates also host the library’s Writer-in-Residence Fellowship, the annual Literary Lights gala each spring, and the Pierce Performance Series — this year’s will be devoted to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
It’s part of the library’s mission to serve the community, Doyle-Bouvier adds. “Whether it’s researchers or authors, being able to access these original artifacts is so important,” she says. “I think it’s so important right now that we continue to lift up the history and any lessons that are contained in these cultural artifacts, rather than allowing them to be erased.”
For Davis, the event is an opportunity to “celebrate books and book history,” as well as introduce the audience to the value of the Special Collections and the BPL in general. “We do that by drawing this connection between today’s readers and today’s reading and old books from 100 years ago,” she says.
Every year, she adds, the contest itself is exciting. Audience members are encouraged to dress up, and some bring signs. “People are really creative, they’re really funny,” she says. The audience can get loud — “there’s applause, there are gasps.”
Nobody wanted to make any predictions about this year’s winner. After all, added Davis, last year’s books were F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway,” and “The Trial” by Franz Kafka. “Everyone thought that ‘Gatsby’ was the horse to beat. But in the end, it was ‘Mrs. Dalloway’ that won. It was a real shocker!”
Adds host Kennedy Elsey: “Every year, I think I know who’s gonna win and every year I’m wrong. And that’s what makes it so fun!”
The Associates of the Boston Public Library’s Hundred Year Book Debate will take place at 6 p.m. on Feb. 10, in Rabb Hall at the BPL’s Central Library in Copley Square. Admission is free, but reservations, available through Eventbrite, are required.
Kate Tuttle edits the Globe's Books section. You can reach her at kate.tuttle@globe.com