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I understand the reasoning of the library director. Competition can be pretty toxic and easily leads to results that are opposite of what is desired (here: kids stopping to read because they feel discouraged). It isn't fun to "lose" when you get crushed.
I feel it's troublesome and misguided to pitch kids against each other instead of encouraging team spirit where all contribute together toward a common goal (say, a new "highscore" of how many books all kids combined read in a given summer). A sense of "us" instead of "vs others".
Insightful book on this topic: "No contest" by Alfie Kohn.
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