Manhattan Wins The Battle of the Boroughs Library Staff Spelling Bee

MARCH 11, 2016 – Trattoria.

That’s the word that made Manhattanite and New York Public Library employee Rob Kelley the winner of the first-ever battle of the boroughs library staff spelling bee, held at the New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street.

"I'm happy about the victory. It makes up for losing in the eighth grade to Angela Thomas,” said Kelley, a senior project manager who has worked at The New York Public Library for three years.

Kelley was one of 30 librarians and other staff members from the city’s three public library systems – The Brooklyn Public Library, New York Public Library, and Queens Library – who participated in the competitive and at-times loud event.

"Wow," Kelley said. “As an adult, it causes just as many ‘butterflies in the stomach’ as when you're a kid!  Will you know the word? If you do, will you flub a letter while speaking? And then sitting there, your heart goes out to each person on each word.  There were a lot of tough words -- koffle, roodebak, and waterzooi -- that make you nervous about what's coming up next.  It was a roller coaster of word memory."

The New York Public Library - which serves the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island - hosted the staff event in the hours after the conclusion of the annual Daily News Citywide Spelling Bee for New York City kids. This is the second year that the News held its over 50-year-old bee at the Library’s 42nd Street building, which for over a century has stood as a symbol of education and access to knowledge. Brooklyn participant Cerulean Ozarow and Queens participant Srinath Mahankali won slots to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC.

In addition to the staff spelling bee, The New York Public Library is marking its collaboration with the Daily News with an online spelling quiz that's surprisingly tough. 

Media Contact:

Angela Montefinise | angelamontefinise@nypl.org

About The New York Public Library

The New York Public Library is a free provider of education and information for the people of New York and beyond. With 92 locations—including research and branch libraries—throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, the Library offers free materials, computer access, classes, exhibitions, programming and more to everyone from toddlers to scholars, and has seen record numbers of attendance and circulation in recent years. The New York Public Library serves more than 18 million patrons who come through its doors annually and millions more around the globe who use its resources at www.nypl.org. To offer this wide array of free programming, The New York Public Library relies on both public and private funding. Learn more about how to support the Library at nypl.org/support.