Category: Communities Create
Description: Stuck at Home is a collection of poems written by students of all ages for the North Branch Area Library’s annual poetry contest.
Organization: East Central Regional Library is a consolidated regional public library system providing library service in East Central Minnesota: Aitkin, Chisago, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, and Pine Counties.
We asked East Central Regional Library “What does the library mean to the creation of your work?”
“This work is the product of the North Branch Area Library’s annual poetry contest, so the library is at the heart and soul of this work. The library is a space where people of all backgrounds and experiences can come together, access resources, and learn with and from each other, which has always been reflected in the yearly contest. The theme of this year’s event, “Stuck at Home”, gave youth of all ages the opportunity to share their experiences living through the Covid-19 pandemic. The library usually hosts a event where poets read their contest entries. It’s one of the biggest events of the year, with friends, family, and teachers packing into the Community Room to hear the reading. Since this kind of gathering was not possible in pandemic circumstances, the library gathered the contest entries and made them available through this eBook.”
Winners will be announced at the 2021 Minnesota Library Association Annual Conference.