State Library Invites Young Readers to Enter Letters About Literature

The Center for the Book at the New Hampshire State Library has announced that submissions are now being accepted from New Hampshire students for the national reading and writing program “Letters about Literature.”

A writing competition for readers nine years of age or older in grades 4 through 12, “Letters About Literature” is nationally sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. In New Hampshire, the program is coordinated by the Center for the Book at the New Hampshire State Library.

To participate in “Letters About Literature,” students write a personal letter to an author, explaining how his or her work changed their view of the world or of themselves. Young readers can select authors from any genre—fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic.

Entries in Level III (grades 9-12) must be postmarked no later than December 15, 2014. Entries in Level I (grades 4-6) and Level II (grades 7-8) must be postmarked no later than January 15, 2015. All entries must include the required entry coupon. The coupon, along with complete contest rules, a list of books that inspired previous semi-finalist letters and winning letters from previous years are all available at lal.nhbookcenter.org.

For the competition, a panel of New Hampshire judges will select the top letters in the state in each of three competition levels. New Hampshire winners will receive a cash award of $100 from the Center for the Book at the New Hampshire State Library. Winning letters at the state level then advance for national judging where they will compete with letters from students around the country for a prize of $1,000 at each competition level. A national honor winner will also be selected at each competition level and will receive a prize of $200. National winners will be announced in May 2015.

The Center for the Book at the New Hampshire State Library was founded in 2003 to celebrate and promote reading, books, literacy and the literary heritage of New Hampshire, and to highlight the role that reading and libraries play in enriching the lives of the people of the Granite State. It is the New Hampshire affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. Information on the New Hampshire Center is available at nhbookcenter.org.

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 read.gov/cfb/.

Submitted by the New Hampshire State Library.