Young Author and Illustrator Contest Returns for 40th Year

This story originally appeared in The Centre County Gazette.

Centre County Library and Historical Museum announced it will hold its 40th Young Author and Illustrator Contest, encouraging local children to participate in the competition.

Students in grades first through sixth can submit their stories from now until Tuesday, April 1.

Started in 1985, the Young Author and Illustrator Contest has collected stories from hundreds of local children who demonstrated their creativity through their submissions.

“This beloved program has been nurturing the creativity of young minds throughout Centre County for four decades and is a highlight of the year for young aspiring authors and illustrators,” a press release from Centre County Library and Historical Museum shared.

“Children can truly focus on their storytelling strengths and style in this competition as entries can be composed of only pictures, only writing or both. The contest is also open to children in all types of educational settings — public, private, charter or home school. Some local teachers even incorporate the contest into their classroom activities, with every child in the classroom submitting an entry to the contest.”

Each submitted story is judged by community leaders and library youth services staff. Stories will be judged by grade level and first through third place, along with two honorable mentions, will be given to each grade.

“Stories are selected based on originality, creativity, content, grammar, punctuation, completion and spelling,” the Centre County Library and Historical Museum website noted.

First place stories will be turned into a hardback book and added to the library’s permanent collection.

Authors can submit their story either by:

• Emailing a digital copy to youngauthor@centrecountylibrary.org
• Mailing it to Centre County Library at 200 N. Allegheny St., Bellefonte, PA 16823
• Dropping the story off at any Centre County Library location

For more information and submission requirements, visit centrecountylibrary.org/youngauthor.