Banned Books Week Essay Contest

1st Amendment

Sept. 28 to Oct. 4, teen essay contest

Be a part of Bloomington Public Library’s celebration of Banned Books Week!  Enter your essay!

I Agree I Disagree



Eligibility requirements:

Open to all teens in grades 6-12

Choice of essay topics:

  • Read a banned or challenged book and discuss why this book was banned/challenged. Defend your ideas. You do not have to summarize the book.
  • Discuss the First Amendment’s relationship to books. Does the practice of banning/challenging books conflict with the First Amendment? Defend your ideas

Contest Regulations:

  • Entries must be original and typed.
  • Only one essay may be submitted per contestant.
  • Essay text is limited to one single-sided page.
  • Entries are due on or before Oct. 4.

Awards:

Winners will be chosen from each of the following groups:

  • Middle School (grades 6-8)
  • High School (grades 9-12)

In each category, judges will choose one winner and up to two honorable mention award recipients. Winners will receive a $100 gift card to an area book store. Honorable mention recipients will each receive a $50 gift card to an area bookstore. The library reserves the right to withhold awards if there are not sufficient entries deemed to merit the prizes.

Judging:

The essays will be judged by a three-person panel with regards to these criteria: clarity/consistency of position, supporting information, organization and sentence
structure and punctuation. The judges’ decisions are final.

Submissions:

Essays will not be returned to the author; they become the property of the Bloomington Public Library. The library reserves the right to republish and use the essays as it deems necessary. In those instances, appropropriate citations will be given to the author.

Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to expres one’s opinion even it that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them. The purpose of this contest is to encourage students to learn and think critically about american freedoms, as well as to value these rights for the benefits they provide to all of us. It is also designed to show how free speech works be enabling students to freely voice their opinions.