Public Information and Communication
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 24, 2007
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Mary Jo Ryan
402-471-3434
800-307-2665
Library of Congress Sponsors National
Reading and Writing Contest for Young Readers
State and National
Winners Will Be Selected
National Winners Will
Earn a $10,000 Reading Promotion Grant for their Community School Library
Letters about Literature is a national reading and writing
promotion program for young readers in grades 4 through 12, sponsored by the
Center for the Book in the Library of Congress in partnership with Target. To
enter, readers write a personal letter to an author, explaining how his or her
work changed their view of the world or themselves. Young readers can select
authors from any genre-fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic. The
contest is sponsored in Nebraska by the Nebraska Center for the Book, Nebraska
Library Commission, Houchen Bindery Ltd., and Lee Booksellers.
Judges
representing the Nebraska Center for the Book will select the top essayists in
the state on three competition levels: Level I for young readers in grades 4
through 6, Level II for grade 7 and 8 readers, and Level III for readers in
grades 9 through 12. Entries in each state will be assessed on three criteria:
content, or the writer's achievement in addressing the contest theme;
exposition, or the writer's use of language skills; and voice, the writer's
style and originality of expression.
State winners
will receive a $50 Target Gift Card. Each state winner will then advance to the
national competition. A panel of judges for the Center for the Book in the
Library of Congress will then select six national winners (two per competition
level) and twelve national runners-up (four per competition level). Each
national winner will receive a $500 Target Gift Card. In addition, they will win
a Reading Promotion Grant of $10,000 for their school or community library.
National winners will be instrumental in deciding how the library funds will be
spent. The 12 national runners-up will win a $100 Target Gift Card, plus
they will win a Reading Promotion Grant of $1,000 for their school or
community library.
The required
entry coupon and a copy of the "how to enter" guidelines are available at
/publications/lal/aboutcontest.html.
Contact lal@epix.net for free teaching materials (including lesson plans, blackline
masters, writing samples, and assessment checklists) for schools, libraries, and
home school partnerships. Deadline for entries is December 14, 2007.
Target sponsors Letters about
Literature as part of its commitment to supporting education and early childhood
reading. Target recognizes the integral role reading plays in shaping a child's
future, because reading is the foundation for life-long learning and success.
Since opening its doors, Target has given five percent of its income to
organizations that support education, the arts, and safe families and
communities. Today that translates to $3 million every week.
The Center for the Book in the
Library of Congress was established in 1977 as a public-private partnership to
use the resources of the Library of Congress to stimulate public interest in
books and reading. For information about its activities and national reading
promotion networks, visit
www.loc.gov/cfbook.
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The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska
Library Commission and brings together the state's readers, writers,
booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build
the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public
interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the
Book is supported by the Nebraska Library Commission.
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As
the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the
library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library
Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and
information services, bringing together people and information.