Contest will be held for the creation of promotional materials for the TJ library.
Photo by Hanna Kazlovskaya
During the week of April 10-16, DPS will be celebrating Teen Tech Week, which is a district-wide recognition of technologies offered in school libraries. This week will be part of National Library Month during April. “The focus for teen tech week is on everything in the library besides books,” said TJ Librarian Sudi Stodola. “That includes downloadables, electronic books, databases, audio/visual resources, and a lot more.”
In recognition of Teen Tech Week, Stodola will be holding a contest at TJ for the creation of posters or multi-media presentations advertising the library’s resources. “We’re looking for anything promoting the library and everything that’s in it,” said Stodola. “Me and three other judges will pick the winners, but we’re not sure how many places there will be yet.”
According to Stodola, the main focus of the posters and videos submitted should be the multimedia and non-book related materials offered in the library. “This contest is important – especially for parents – for people to know that the library is for more than just checking out books,” said Stodola. “The whole week will help a ton with marketing. I believe, even if we won’t admit it, all librarians are inherent nerds at heart, so we have no idea about marketing. It’s always nice to get students to do that part for us.”
One of the non-book related resources in the library is a plethora of ebooks online, an aspect of the library that Stodola believes is highly under-appreciated. “Most people in TJ, even the seniors, have no idea I even have ebooks,” said Stodola. “I really want to encourage people to come here and look things up. I don’t just have books, I have research opportunities, and tons of things for college.”
Upon receiving posters and videos, Stodola plans on using them as advertising materials around the school. “I want to laminate the winning poster, and use it in future years. I should have all of the posters in the contest displayed around the school through April,” said Stodola. “With the videos, I want to have them featured on the Spartan Edition. I’ll also upload them to the library website, and maybe create a Youtube channel for the contest. The whole project is centered around communication skills.”
Prizes for submitted posters and videos will include signed copies of numerous books donated by the Tattered Cover, including titles such as, Across the Universe, The Eternal Ones, and Night Shade. “Authors of multiple new books I have will be in town pretty soon,” said Stodola enthusiastically. “I’m going to get the books autographed, and put them up as prizes.”
According to Stodola, the Tattered Cover’s donation of books to TJ – which occurred at the beginning of this semester – was the inspiration for the contest. “I had the idea after the store’s generous donation,” said Stodola. “I was going to get most of them signed anyway, so I figured it’d be a good idea to make a contest out of it and use them as prizes.”
While the number of signed books being offered as prizes are limited, Stodola hopes to give all submissions some sort of prize. “Everyone who submits a poster or video will get something,” said Stodola. “The way I see it, if people put in the effort, they deserve something back. But it has to be a worthwhile effort.”
The deadline for the submission of posters or videos will be March 21st. The winning products will be judged and presented in time for April’s Teen Tech Week. All submissions should be turned in to Ms. Stodola in the library.
