Center for the Book at the New Hampshire State Library

Since the Grand Opening last May, quite a bit has happened with the New Hampshire Center for the Book: contests have been announced, the website has been reworked, and we have attended the National Book Festival. There has also been a change in personnel.

Katie McDonough, whose vision and hard work was instrumental to the founding of the New Hampshire Center for the Book decided in August that it was time to put her skills to work as the Director of the Kimball Public Library in Atkinson, N.H. Just prior to Katie's resignation one of our Advisory Board members, Rhenea Regan, resigned from the Board because she is moving out of the country. State Librarian Micheal York appointed me, Mary Russell, as Acting Director of the New Hampshire Center for the Book in Katie's place. He appointed Katie to the Center's Advisory Board. I am very pleased to take on this responsibility and hope to build on what Katie, with the help of many others, began. Luckily for me, the "many others" are still here and pitching in on all kinds of great projects.

Donna DuSell in her capacity as our web master completed a reorganization and update of the Center's website (http://www.state.nh.us/nhsl/bookcenter/index.html) in mid-September. The goal of the reorganization was to make it easier to understand the site and to find information about the projects of the Center. Each of the Center's programs and activities now has its own page, e-mail links to the coordinators of the various programs have been added, and the listings of the numerous members of New Hampshire's literary community have been reorganized to make it easier to find specific types of organizations. Links to the electronic newsletters of various "bookish" groups have been added to the site and the information on who we are, what we do, and how to support the Center has been expanded. The News page has also been redesigned to be used as a source of quick information on whatever news and information we have come across that may be of interest to New Hampshire book lovers. The News Bulletins are updated weekly and include library book sales around the state.

Alice Nye has been appointed Chair of the New Hampshire Dublin Award Committee (another position previously held by Katie McDonough). The largest and most international prize of its kind, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, is presented to a novel of high literary merit written in, or translated into, English and published within a specified period of time. The N. H. State Library has been a nominating library since 1999. The award is a joint initiative of the Dublin (Ireland) City Council, the Municipal Government of Dublin City, and IMPAC. The committee is currently reviewing fictional works for the 2005 award. This award is for books first published in English during 2003. Also included are books first published in another language between 1999 and 2003 with the English translation first published in 2003. If you are looking for a great book to read check out the list of past New Hampshire nominees on the web (http://www.state.nh.us/nhsl/bookcenter/programs/impac.html), or use the e-mail link included there to tell the Committee about a great book you read that you think should be considered.

Ann Hoey is serving as the coordinator of two contests that the Center is currently involved in. The Ladybug Picture Book Award, sponsored by the New Hampshire Center for the Book, is designed to promote early literacy and honor the best in recent children's picture books. A committee of children's librarians from around New Hampshire selected 12 picture book titles last spring. During Children's Book Week - November 17-23, 2003 - New Hampshire children from preschoolers to those in third grade will vote to select the award winner. The list of nominated titles and a printable ballot (which must be returned by December 1, 2003) are available on the web (http://www.state.nh.us/nhsl/bookcenter/programs/ladybug.html).

We are also participating, for the first time, in the Letters About Literature contest sponsored by The Center for the Book at the Library of Congress, Target Stores, and the Weekly Reader Corporation. Readers in grades 4 through 12 are invited to enter this national reading-writing contest. To enter, readers write an essay in the form of a personal letter to an author, explaining how his or her work changed their view of the world or themselves. Young readers can select authors, living or dead, from any genre-fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic. Unfortunately, because of the huge volume of letters anticipated, it is impossible to forward the letters to the authors. On behalf of The New Hampshire Center for the Book, a panel of judges will select the top essayists in the state in each of the three competition levels: Level I - grades 4 through 6; Level II - grades 7 and 8, and Level III - grades 9 - 12. A first place winner will be selected in each competition level and will receive $100 in cash and a $50 Target Gift Card. New Hampshire's three winning submissions will then be entered into the national competition. Six of the nationwide contestants will receive a trip to the 2004 National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. and a $500 Target Gift Card. Entry details, links to National winners from past years, and teaching supplements are all available on the web (http://www.state.nh.us/nhsl/bookcenter/programs/letters.html).

The New Hampshire Center for the Book also participated in the 2003 National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. The Festival's Pavilion of the States included tables for all the states and several U.S. territories. More than 1,000 people visited the New Hampshire table where kids and adults were invited to draw pictures from their favorite books and we distributed brochures about New Hampshire State Library programs and activities. The pictures will be used to create a favorite books quilt to display at next year's National Book Festival. A printed map of the United States was distributed to Festival attendees and each state table had a stamp or sticker to mark their state for visitors to their table. Printed on the map was a list of books, one for each state, and we distributed an excerpt from Tomie DePaola's 26 Fairmount Avenue (the book we selected for the map) to the first 1,000 people whose maps we stamped. Overall this was a wonderful Festival and it gave the New Hampshire Center for the Book at the New Hampshire State Library an opportunity to showcase the literary riches of our state to a wide and receptive audience of book lovers. Photos from the Festival are included in this issue.

	A 1/2 hour before the festival
	The New Hampshire table was a popular destination
	National Book Festival 2003
	Maps of the U.S. were available to collect stamps and stickers
	Kids were asked to draw pictures about their favorite books
	The Pavillion of the States was a very busy place