FAQs Page for the MSLA
Bookmark Contest
Who can enter the contest?
Any school librarian who
is a current member of MSLA can enter for his or her school.
What if I am a district
supervisor with many schools?
A supervising department chair who supervises non-member
schools may submit a maximum of three entries per division for the schools s/he supervises. (For example, an MSLA district
library director of three elementary schools may submit only three division
entries for all three schools, not nine.)
Non-member libraries are not
eligible to participate in the contest.
What if I am not a member
of MSLA?
You can easily obtain
membership at www.mslma.org before entering
the contest.
How do I run the contest
at my school?
You have the choice of
doing it a number of ways: working with classroom or art teachers, having
students work on it during library time or free time, celebrate literacy events
such as Children’s Book Week or Banned Book Week. Promote this school-wide contest and offer
prizes and publicity.
When do I send in the
contest entries?
You may send the entries
to Gerri Fegan anytime BEFORE
What information do I need
to submit an entry?
The contest templates for
photocopying are on the website at www.mslma.org Each
entry needs the student’s name, grade and contest division, school address, the
member librarian’s name and email address, and the name of your local
newspaper. We also ask for parent
signature for publicity purposes.
Entries without parent’s permission are disqualified.
Will I be able to get my
students’ entries back?
The best advice would be
to scan your entries into a file or to make color copies before you send
them. If your students are winners at
the state level, their bookmarks will be sent directly to the printer and then
they will be laminated for display and archival purposes. If the entries are not selected, they can be
returned to you by sending a large self-addressed stamped envelope to Gerri
Fegan,
What do the students win?
The students receive a
gift certificate from one of our local bookstores, a certificate signed by all
the judges, and a commendation at the State House in
How do I obtain my
school’s prize?
The MSLA website will
display the vendors who have generously donated school prizes for the bookmark
contest and for those school libraries who celebrate School Library Month with
us at the State House in Boston. The
Bookmark Committee will instruct winners on how to obtain their vendor prizes.
How do schools publicize
their school’s winners?
Immediately following the
judging, phone calls are placed to the school librarians who have winning or
honorable mention bookmarks. As soon as
all have been contacted, MSLA sends out press releases to the newspapers on the
entry applications. It is the
responsibility of the school librarian to provide more in-depth ceremonies,
interviews, and news coverage. MSLA will
gladly help out with information to encourage news events.
How can I help with next
year’s bookmark contest?
We are always looking for library
teachers to help us with our bookmark contest.
Please email Gerri Fegan if you would like to volunteer: feganpkt@comcast.net