What is Tome Society?

The short answer:
Tome Society is a book club for students in grades 2-12. Students in club chapters read and discuss great books, create items to enter in literacy-based competitions, and participate in virtual and in-person literacy events. 

The official answer:
Tome Student Literacy Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Georgia. Tome Society serves students in grades 2-12 by providing a diverse menu of digital student competitions; an annual book award list of new, PG, fun-to-read children's and young adult literature titles; student book club activities; curriculum materials for educators; and the TomeCon annual conference for both students and educators. All activities promote self-esteem, leadership skills, character ethics, and nurture critical thinking, creativity, and imagination in the digital age.

Who can participate?

Students in grades 2-12 who are members of a local chapter at their public, private, or home school, or public library may participate in Tome Society. When a school or library creates a Tome Society chapter, all of the students in their school/library become eligible to participate in Tome activities and competitions. 
Tome Society chapters are divided into 3 levels:

• Club Tome - Elementary School - grades 2-5
• Jr Tome - Middle School - grades 6-8
• Tome Society - High School - grades 9-12

Schools/libraries serving students in mixed grade levels will need to create separate chapters for each level wishing to participate (e.g. a school with grades 2-8 would need a Club Tome and Jr Tome chapter). 

How do I start a chapter?

Starting a Tome Society chapter is very easy. Simply submit the Annual Chapter Registration Form found on the Chapters page. You will receive an email with a digital invoice for dues. Once you have paid your annual dues - starting at $25, based on school size - you are all set! Repeat these steps each year for your chapter to remain active and eligible for competition participation and chapter-only perks. 

What are the Chapter-Only Perks?

Only registered, active chapters receive these benefits:

• Competition eligibility, including Reading Bowl competition
• Exclusive Tome Society Discussion Guide for each It List book
• Early-registration eligibility for TomeCon
• Exclusive It List author content and events, such as Tome Exclusive videos, virtual chats and interviews
• Other chapter-only content, such as TomeCon on Demand

What is the It List?

The It List is Tome Society's annual book award list, released each February on the blog. The books on the It List serve as content for most of our competitions, including the Reading Bowl. It List nominees are recently published children's, middle grades, and young adult titles that are free from excessive profanity and blush-worthy scenes. See the current nominees and explore our archives on the Books page. 
The It List is divided into 3 levels:

• Club Tome - Elementary School - 10 titles 
• Jr Tome - Middle School - 10 titles
• Tome Society - High School - 20 titles

What are the competitions?

Students in active Tome Society chapters may compete in as many competitions as they like at the local level; however, chapters may only submit 1 entry per category per year on the national level.  Entries are submitted digitally twice a school year by the chapter adviser for national judging. Students in grades 2-12 may compete in all competitions, with the exception of Reading Bowl (grades 3-12 only). See the full rules and details on the Competitions page.
The competition categories are:

• ​Individual/team competitions, based on It List books:
  • Reading Bowl team competition (grades 3-12)
  • Book Trailer video
  • Book Talk, public speaking live event 
  • Fan Fiction
  • Promotional Book Flyer
  • Fan Art
  • Book Review Blog Article
  • Like-Try-Why social media graphic
  • Poem
  • Book Review Vlog video
  • Annual Theme Essay
• Individual/team competitions, no parameters:
  • Library Commercial video
  • Current Issues Portfolio & Presentation
  • Historical Fiction Infographic
  • Infographic, any topic
  • Book Print video
  • Digital Book Cover Redesign 
  • Character to Author Letter
• Chapter competitions:
  • Chapter Service Project Newsletter
  • Chapter of the Year portfolio
• Awards:
  • Tome Service Award
  • Tau Omicron Mu Epsilon Honor Society initiation (grades 11 & 12)

What is Reading Bowl?

The Tome Society Reading Bowl is a digital competition in which students take 3 multiple-choice online exams during the school year based on the books on their chapter level's It List. See the Reading Bowl page for full rules, exam book lists, and dates. 

• Chapters may have up to 15 members on their Reading Bowl Team. 
• Students in grades 3-12 may participate in Reading Bowl.
• Members of the Reading Bowl team will read all of the books on their chapter level's It List.
  • Elementary teams will be tested on 7 of the 10 books on their list. 
• Books are divided amongst 3 multiple-choice digital exams taken during pre-determined testing windows.
• Exams are proctored and timed.
• Questions are based on content from the It List books.
• Students compete individually, but team score is based on average of top 5 individual scores. 
• The top 4 teams in each chapter level advance to the in-person, quiz-bowl style championship round at TomeCon.

What is TomeCon?

TomeCon is our end-of-year conference* where chapters from across the country come together to meet each other and celebrate their accomplishments from the year. TomeCon is a 1 day event typically taking place in Oakwood, Ga, in mid-March.
Each year we invite your favorite current and past It List Authors to attend the event and teach classes on writing and other literacy topics. We also invite other guests to lead sessions on various topics, some of which include: art, health, animals, comic books, anime, journalism, technology, STEM, poetry, video games, and more!
Tome Society publishes a Session Guide before each TomeCon listing all of the classes and events offered. Students may select a class or event to attend during each session throughout the day (typically 8 sessions). Chapters are highly encouraged to attend, and to bring parents/chaperones. Only active chapters are eligible for early registration. Tickets do sell out! Visit the TomeCon page for more info. 
What to expect at TomeCon:

• Reading Bowl Championship competition
• Book Talk live competition
• Award Ceremonies
• Meet-and-Greets with It List Authors
• Concurrent teaching sessions with It List Authors and other guests
• Shopping for It List Books, Tome Swag, and other bookish merchandise

*Information based on pre-pandemic events. TomeCon may look different in the future, but it will still be a day your students won't want to miss!

How can I help?

Tome Society is a non-profit run by a board of volunteers and 1 employee (our amazing Office Manager, Caroline). Volunteers are the magic that makes Tome possible!
Here are a few areas where we always need new volunteers:

• Readers to review possible It List titles
• Multiple-choice question writers for Reading Bowl exams
• Discussion Guide question writers
• TomeCon volunteers
• TomeCon speakers

Find out more on the Volunteer page. 

Need more info?

We'd love to talk to you! Email us at tometeam@tomesociety.org.