Great Librarian Write-Out (Round Two)

The prize money has gone up!! LibraryAware from Novelist has given ANOTHER $250 for the prize! We are up to $500!!! Thank you so much Nancy Dowd and Novelist!

With the success of the Great Librarian Write-out, I’m going to go for round two! Once again, you have NOW until the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting in 2013 to get yourself published in some kind of non-library publication. It must be in print and not online and must be library related. Once again, I’m offering $250 of my own money to start this competition, and once again, I’d love to see anyone else jump in and offer something to up the award. Vendors and professional organizations are always welcome to offer some swag or increase the award!

Once again, it’s time for librarians to get out of the echo-chamber of librarianship and get some good words out to the people. The award is $250 (of my own money) for the best library-related article to be published in a non-library magazine or journal. Yes, that’s right… My own personal money!! That’s how important this is to me!

There are thousands of amazing writers in our profession who write their own blogs and write for our professional magazines and journals, but rarely (or never) do I see an article written for the public in a major national magazine about how libraries help society in some great way. I don’t think there has ever been a time when such articles should be appearing amidst the news of library closures, resource cutting, and layoffs. It’s time that we got the word out about libraries to as many people as possible!!

It seems to me that there are hundreds of topics for articles that could be written that would be applicable to the content of a major magazine. Off of the top of my head I’m thinking;

-Saving Businesses Money (or starting a business) with Library Resources that could be published in;
- Forbes
- Entrepreneur
- Fortune
-Business Week

-How someone learned about their cultural identity at the library that could be published in;
- Ebony
- Latina
- Out!

-Pet Care information that could be published in;
-Dogs
-Cats
-Bark!

But this is only scratching the surface of the possibilities. I could keep going but I think you get the idea. If you want to participate and win $250 for your article published in a non-library journal or magazine, here are the criteria;

-You must be in some way related to the library profession, a library vendor, a patron, a friend of a patron, or at least heard of the idea of libraries at one point in your life.

-It must be a pro-library article speaking positively about the benefits of libraries in some aspect of society and addressing the need for folks to get up and go to the library for some reason or another.

-The article must be printed between February 15 2011, and the first day of the ALA Midwinter Meeting on January 20th 2012

-It must be published in a non-library related magazine or journal with a national (United States) or international circulation. More points will be given to an article in a magazine with the largest circulation, and you will receive bonus points for a feature article.

-You must submit, your name, the title, and date of publication (for verification) by emailing us or commenting below.

The articles will be judged by the members of the Think Tank at the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting in Seattle Washington in 2013. The winner will be announced January 30th 2013.

If you want to help us up the ante for prize money let us know by commenting below or sending us a message. Also, any money raised through our Café Press store will go towards added prizes and awards and other library advocacy projects as well so feel free to shop away! www.cafepress.com/libraryadvocate

Please be sure to sign up for the event on Facebook!!

*This event is brought to you by the members of the Think Tank.*
JP Porcarro
Allen McGinley
Jenn Walker
Tiffany Mair
Andrea Davis

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