On Tuesday, May 10, the first and second place winner of the “I love my library” contest was announced. The first place winner, junior Drew Anderson, won an Apple Ipad. The second place winner, senior Kaitlin Becker, won an Apple iPod Touch.

The judges of the contest looked for entries in digital format. The judges included Ray Eernisse, a technology director in the FHC district; Mary Jo Griffin, the library director; Mrs. Rigby and Andrea Head, Central’s librarians; Sandy Kimball, a library paraprofessional; Principal Sonny Arnel and Assistant Principal David Stofer; and Gina Hartman, the educational technology specialist. Ideas included a recorded performance of a rap, poem, song, animation, photo story, glogster, or a Windows Movie Maker production. The entry ideas page told students, “The Sky is the limit – Use your imaginations!”

“They created a video that says why students love our library,” said librarian Joan Rigby.

The contest was created in April, which was National Library Month.

“We thought it was a good opportunity to showcase what students had learned with technology,” said Ms. Rigby.

A total of eight judges determined the winners based on a checklist of judging criteria. They gave a rating for several categories, including content, creativity, editing, and the overall impression with a scale of 1-3. The ratings were then totalled to determine the winners.

According to Anderson, he did not expect to win since he had not seen any other submission that competed with his. However, he was hopeful.

“[It was] really awesome. All I did was make a song, and I have an iPad now,” said Anderson. “At first, I wasn’t going to enter. Then I found out you could win an iPad, so I was like eh, why the [heck] not?”

Anderson said he wrote the lyrics during school, and went home to record it. Once that was done, he had a friend, junior Zachary Lund, record the video of him and some friends.

“It was a rap; it was really good,” said Ms. Rigby.

Anderson’s submission for the contest can be found here.

Becker created a submission using clips from movies that were all originally books. She included rhetorical questions asking why you could possibly hate the library.

“It was really exciting. Nothing like this ever happens,” said Becker. “I always enter raffles, but if anyone ever wins it’s my sister. So winning something I actually worked for is exciting.”

According to Becker, she entered on a whim. After turning it in, she actually wanted to see what the judges thought of the work she did. The URL for her submission can be found here.

“I read a lot,” said Becker. “I always feel when I’m reading, I get sucked into the book. I feel nothing but the book.”

Becker said she did not expect to win, but like Anderson, she was hopeful. She tags herself as a perfectionist, and felt that when she turned it in, it could have been better.

“Thank you for whoever chose me,” said Becker. “I feel honored and it meant a lot. And any critiques, find me and let me know. I always want to improve.”