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Lincoln's Barnett wins Dear Author contest

Local 5th grader Elijah Barnett was one of five winners in the Lewis & Clark Library’s annual Dear Author Contest this January, earning a Sphere SPRK+ robot for himself, four tickets to a Helena Big Horns hockey game, and $150 for the Lincoln School Library.

The contest, which is similar to the Library of Congress’s program Letters About Literature, invited 4th and 5th grade students to write a letter to an author who inspired them and submit it to their public library. The letters were then judged by a small team of Lewis & Clark Library staff, including the director.

Students from both the 4th and 5th grade classes in Lincoln submitted letters. Barnett, a student in Stacey Mannix’s class, said, “We all did it in class for writing time.”

Youth Services Librarian Molly Hudson, who joined the Lewis & Clark Library in 2019, said this is her first year organizing the Dear Author Contest.

“We changed it up this year,” she said. In previous years, the contest required students to write a letter to a Newbery Medal winner or a Young Reader’s Choice Award winner. “I didn’t want it to feel as much like an assignment. We had a pretty positive response. We received 86 entries, which is twice as many as last year.”

Barnett, who participated in the contest for the first time this year, wrote a letter to author Shannon Messenger about her books “Keeper of the Lost Cities” and “Exile.” He plans to attend the ceremony and read his letter.

“My letter was about how the book changed the way I thought. It made me think more about nature. I liked how Shannon Messenger made a character so overpowered, but still made the book good,” he said.

The judges narrowed their choices to ten letters, and then met to discuss and choose the top five. Of the other winners, three were from Helena and one was from Montana City.

An awards ceremony for the students and their school librarians was held Tuesday, Feb. 11, at 7 p.m. in the Ambrose Reading Room at the Lewis & Clark Library in Helena. The Library Foundation provides funding for the contest and prizes.

Hudson wasn’t sure if branch libraries like Lincoln and Augusta were encouraged to participate in the contest in previous years, but she made an effort to include students across the county this year.

“I am really excited that we were able to reach out to everyone in the county. One of my goals since starting in this position is to make sure we’re not limiting Lewis & Clark Library services to Helena. We got letters from Lincoln and Augusta,” Hudson said.

 

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