Public Information and Communication
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 29, 2023
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Tessa Terry
402-471-3434
800-307-2665
Young Readers Invited to Write to Favorite Authors
Young readers in grades
4-12 are invited to write a personal letter to an author for the Nebraska
Letters about Literature (LAL) contest, a state reading and writing
promotion program. The letter can be to any author (living or dead) from any
genre-fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic-explaining how that
author’s work changed the student’s view of the world. Submissions must be
completed online October 1- December 31, 2023. Nebraska Letters About
Literature is coordinated and sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book
and the Nebraska Library Commission, with support from Lincoln City
Libraries, Francie & Finch Bookshop, Humanities Nebraska, and Chapters
Bookstore in Seward.
The Nebraska Center for the Book’s panel of
judges will select a winner and an honorable mention per competition level
(Level I for grades 4-6, Level II for grades 7-8, and Level III for grades
9-12) to be honored in a proclamation-signing ceremony at the state capitol
during National Library Week in April 2024. Their winning letters will be
placed in the Jane Pope Geske Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors at Bennett
Martin Public Library in Lincoln. Nebraska winners and honorable mentions
will receive state prizes.
Teachers, librarians, and parents can
download the contest guidelines, free teaching materials, information on the
online entry system, and past winning letters on the
Nebraska Center for the Book website. An informational
NCompass Live webinar will air on
October 11th, discussing this year’s contest, the submission process, and
judging criteria. For more information contact
Nebraska Center for the Book.
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
national Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and the Nebraska
Library Commission.
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.”
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The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska
Library Commission are always available on the Library Commission Website,
http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases
.