By Khalida Sarwari
A word like democracy tends to be at the forefront of the national consciousness in an election year, but what does it mean to you? Campbell Library is posing this question to students as part of two countywide contests.
The contests are an extension of California Reads, a statewide program encouraging people to read the same books and engage in discussions about those books. This summer the program explored the idea of creating a healthy democracy in a time of political polarization, said Campbell community librarian Cheryl Houts.
“I think libraries serve the purpose of guiding people through their lifelong learning, building their own knowledge and becoming good decision-makers; that’s what democracy is all about–people forming their own opinions and trying to support one another,” Houts said.
The two books chosen for this year’s program–Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki and Lost City Radio by Daniel Alarcon–both explored the theme of democracy. Now, the library system wants students to apply that theme.
“The art contest is about involving children and teens and thinking about democracy and putting that in a creative form,” said Houts.
That form will be photography for teens and artwork for younger students. The teen contest, titled “Democracy Is,” is an online digital photography contest for grades 6-8 and 9-12. The photos must be original, high resolution and can be either black and white, sepia or color. Participants can submit up to two photos in the contest by Oct. 12. The winners will be announced Nov. 9, and winning photos will be posted on the Santa Clara County Library District website.
The second contest is titled “We Are America” and is geared toward three categories of grade school children: K-2 and grades 3-5 and 6-8. Participants can submit up to two original artworks in the contest, in the form of a drawing, painting, collage or photograph. The artwork can be in color or black and white, but cannot be larger than 8.5 by 11 inches. They may be submitted by Oct. 26 at the children’s desk.
The winners will be announced during election week on the library’s website. Three winners will be selected from each category and will have their artwork exhibited throughout the library system from November to February.
The art contest winners will receive a 154 piece tri-fold easel art set and teen winners will receive gift cards to local businesses. All winners will also receive a book.
To submit work to the “Democracy Is” contest, visit www.sccl.org/node/263179.
