Why I Love the Library Contest
The Sonoma County Office of Education is partnering with the Sonoma County Public Library to find the next budding writer or artist through the contest entitled Why I Love the Library.
The idea for this contest came from the discovery of an essay written by author Amy Tan when she was attending Matanzas School in Santa Rosa. The contest is open to all students in kindergarten through sixth grade. Eighteen cash prizes will be awarded and free passes to the Charles Schulz Museum will be given to the first 2,000 entrants. The first-place winners within each category (K-2, 3-4, 5-6) will also receive an award entitling their entire class to visit the Museum for free.
All entries must be received by February 15, 2010. Entries my be submitted at any Sonoma County Library Branch or sent to Michael Powell at the Sonoma County Office of Education.
Introductory Letter to Principals (pdf)
Contest Entry Form in English (pdf)
Contest Entry Form in Spanish (pdf)
Original Essay & Message from Amy Tan
What the Library Means to Me, by Amy Tan (1960)
My name is Amy Tan, 8 years old, a third grader in Matanzas School. It is a brand new school and everything is so nice and pretty. I love school because the many things I learn seem to turn on a light in the little room in my mind. I can see a lot of things I have never seen before. I can read many interesting books by myself now. I love to read. My father takes me to the library every two weeks and I check five or six books each time. These books seem to open many windows in my little room. I can see many wonderful things outside. I always look forward to go to the library.
Once my father did not take me to the library for a whole month. He said, the library was closed because the building is too old. I missed it like a good friend. It seems a long long time my father took me to the library again just before Christmas. Now it is on the second floor of some stores. I wish we can have a real nice and pretty library like my school. I put 18 cents in the box and signed my name to join the Citizens of Santa Rosa Library.
Personal Letter from Amy Tan (2009)
Years ago, when I was eight, my favorite part of the week was a visit to the library. There, on the second floor, I was allowed to sift through treasures – stories that took me into the past of a little girl growing up in the wild west, into imaginary lands populated by giants, fairies, and heroic people, to a small town, called Radford, where a girl named Scout learned about many forms of truth. Those books shaped my imagination, stretching it in many directions. It allowed thoughts to bubble up and turn into ideas and questions. Although the books were free for anyone to borrow and read, I felt as if they were my buried treasure, my unearthed secrets.
My wanderings into the Santa Rosa Public Library also led to my becoming a published writer. I wrote an essay called "What the Library Means to Me." It was published in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Many years would pass before I would be published again. But I knew from then on that reading and writing could change my life in surprising and lasting ways.
My best wishes go to all the younger readers who have put down in words what the library means to them. Finding the right words is hard work, I know, because writing is still hard work for me. But I hope you’ll find it’s worth stretching your imagination and flexing your thoughts. One day, you too may become writers whose books grace the shelves of the library. And one day, future readers may find your books in the library and feel changed after reading them.
Good luck!
Ideas for Teachers
Read books by Amy Tan for children: The Moon Lady (1992) and Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat (2001).
Provide a possible form for student writing by using books such as A House is a House for Me (Mary Ann Hoberman, 1978).
Ask students to write an autobiographical incident about their own visit to a library, using a variety of sensory details, sequence of events, and a description of the physical setting. Have students provide insight into why the visit was memorable and why they want to return to the library. Both of these activities meet California State Standards for “Writing Applications.”