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30 Ontario School Library Association Heather MacNamara The Library Hobby Book Contest: A Fun Way to Increase Book Circulation My school library has a nice selection of hobby books, but they were always getting passed over. I decided to run a hobby book contest to increase their circulation. I was hesitant, wondering if there would be much interest in today's digital world, but it was met with great enthusiasm. It is now a fun tradition that I look forward to every year. The idea is simple. Students sign out a hobby book and then use it to make something at home. They can get help from an adult, depending on the creation. There also is an entry form, which asks them to describe how they made their creation, and to recount their favourite part of the process. Finally, they are asked to take a photo, or draw a picture, of their creation. Seeing the wonderful projects created at home is my favourite part. I display the photos for all to see, admire, and be inspired by. Projects that have been created include cookies, cakes, pizza, puppets, lanterns, comics, drawings, fruit punch, plasticine art, sewing projects, mini gardens, paintings, and more. In the past I have displayed the hobby books on top of our book cubbies, but this year I placed the books in two labelled boxes. I find it's neater this way - fewer toppled and trampled books! -- and it's easy for the kids to flip through the titles. Since there are only so many hobby books, each class is limited to two hobby books per week. I run the contest until everyone interested has had a chance to participate. Nine to ten weeks is usually sufficient. As for the prizes for this contest, I find it very difficult to objectively choose the "best" entries since they are all so uniquely fantastic. I randomly choose a winner from each grade, and they receive a book gift certificate. The time it takes to run the contest is minimal. I pull the hobby books from the shelves, photocopy the entry forms and then spend a few minutes a week displaying the entries as they come in.