FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Patricia Spencer, Public Information Officer
406.447.6684 pspencer@lclibrary.org
Calling all 4th and 5th Graders: The Dear Author Program begins January 8th!
January 2, 2018 (Helena, MT)— Your Lewis & Clark Library is pleased to again host the popular Dear Author Program. Participation is simple, 4th and 5th grade students read a book that is either a YRCA Nominee, a past YRCA nominee, or a Newbery Medal winner. The student then writes a letter to the author and submits their letter to the Library for judging.
Children’s Services Librarian Marissa Bazan explains that “Dear Author is a literacy program for students in the fourth and fifth grade that is generously supported by the Lewis & Clark Library Foundation. The sDear Author winners will receive a prize for themselves and their school library!”
Entrants submit their one-page entries to Bazan, between January 8th and 12th to be judged by Lewis & Clark Library’s panel of judges. Late entries will not be accepted.
Who: 4th and 5th Graders
What: Read any book that is a YRCA Nominee, or a past YRCA nominee, or a Newbery Medal winner. (You only need to read one book)
Write a letter, not a book report, to the author of the book that answers the following questions:
-What did the book show you about your world that you never noticed before?
-What did you realize about yourself as a result of reading the book?
-Why was the work meaningful to you?
-How do you know the author's book influenced you?
Each letter should be on 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper and need to include student’s name, phone number, name of student’s school or homeschool, and student’s age at the top of the page. Letters will not be returned.
Where: Send your letters to the library - not the author - between January 8th and 12th to:
Lewis & Clark Library
Attn: Marissa Bazan
Children's Services Librarian
120 S Last Chance Gulch
Helena, MT 59601
Email: mbazan@lclibrary.org
Entries will be judged by a committee and the winners will be contacted by February 2, 2018. The Lewis & Clark Library will host and awards ceremony at the Library on February 6th at 7PM.
For a complete list of YRCA books, visit: http://www.pnla.org/yrca. For Newbery Medal Winners, visit: http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberyhonors/newberymedal. Please visit https://www.lclibrary.org/191/Dear-Author for exact guidelines.
-30-