Two Teens Nab NJ Library YouTube, Comic Contest

When the New Jersey State Library asked teens to show some love, more than 40 kids across the state did just that in the form of videos and comic strips. But only two— Courtney Wu of Basking Ridge and Elena Ordille of Hammonton—took top prize in the “Why I love my library contest.”

Wu’s 30 panel comic on the Bernardsville Public Library—drawn with simple stick figures—tells the story of a Reading Express train that takes people to a massive stadium, filled with trees loaded with hanging books.

Ordille’s five minute YouTube video on the Atlantic County Library shows one teenage girl trying to convince her friend that the library has lots of interesting books on offer—and isn’t just a place for geeks. It worked. Two days later, the friend ends up leaving the library with an armful of books. 

The contest, also sponsored by INFOLINK, was publicized through schools and public libraries and is part of the State Library’s public awareness campaign designed to attract teens. Each winner receives an MP3 Video Player.

“This contest is one more example of how libraries are finding innovative ways to reach out to our younger people,” says New Jersey State Librarian Norma Blake. “The thing that made this contest so exciting for libraries is that it combined the creative energies of our young adults with the social networking that is so popular nowadays to get the word out about how important libraries are to young adults.

More than 17,000 voters chose the winners by visiting the State Library Web site and YouTube.

“These two winners were chosen by their peers- friends, family, schoolmates and community members,” says Nancy Dowd, State Library arketing director. “Can you imagine, over 17,000 votes were cast, and each one of those votes represents one person who was reminded about the value of libraries.”