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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><img width="94" height="91" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image003.png@01D0098A.84B20360" alt="State seal2"><img width="623" height="74" id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image006.png@01D0098A.84B20360" alt="title"></span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:1.0in;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kate Brown, Governor</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<h1 align="left" style="text-align:left"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">State Library<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:.6pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino">250 Winter St. NE</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Palatino"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:.6pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Salem, OR 97301-3950<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:.6pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino">(503) 378-4243<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:.6pt"><span style="font-family:Palatino">FAX (503) 588-7119<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:.6pt"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Palatino">TTY (503) 378-4334<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">CONTACT: Jennifer Maurer<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">School Library Consultant<br>
Oregon State Library<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">(503) 378-5011<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 4, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">OREGON STUDENTS TO BE HONORED FOR LETTERS ABOUT LITERATURE ENTRIES
</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During a celebration at the Oregon State Library on Thursday, May 7<sup>th</sup> from 4:00 to 5:30 pm, students from across Oregon will be honored for their winning entries in the 2015
Letters About Literature contest. Nationally, students were asked to read a book, poem or speech and write to the author, still living or not, detailing how the text affected them personally or changed their world view. The following Oregon children and teens
are being recognized at the state level for their letters: <br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Level I (4<sup>th</sup>-6<sup>th</sup> Grades)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Winner: Vicky Siah, Beaverton<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Runner-Up: Sophie Ong, Beaverton<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Honorable Mentions: Aletha Lengkong, Eugene; Mia Cremona, Lake Oswego; Cameron Iizuka, Lake Oswego; Phoebe Garrett, Lake Oswego; Amala Rajagopal, Beaverton<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Level II (7<sup>th</sup>-8<sup>th</sup> Grades)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Winner: Sophie Ciurlik Rittenbaum, Medford<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Runner-Up: Madeleine Adriance, Portland<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Honorable Mentions: Chloe Scribner, Corvallis; Ashleen Smith, Madras; Soumik Chakraborty, Portland; Noah Kurzenhauser, Milwaukie; Zora Kurenhauser, Milwaukie<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Level III (9<sup>th</sup>-12<sup>th</sup> Grades<b>)<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Winner: Hannah DesChamp, Eugene<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Runner-Up: Khiarica Rasheed, Portland<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Honorable Mentions: Sam Arnot, Portland; Mariah Jacobs, Sherwood; Autumn Grube, Keizer<br>
<br>
<span style="background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The 105 semi-finalists from around the state will be honored separately.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Letters About Literature is a national reading and writing promotion program of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. Local cosponsors are the Oregon Center for the Book
at the State Library, the Oregon Reading Association, and three divisions of the Oregon Library Association: Children’s Services Division, Oregon Young Adult Network, and Oregon Association of School Libraries. All but the Oregon Center for the Book contribute
money to provide prizes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><br>
Out of about 50,000 entries nationally, 1,069 came from Oregon children and teenagers. Level I of the contest is open to students in grades 4 through 6, Level II to students in grades 7 and 8, and Level III to students in grades 9 through 12. All entries are
sent to the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress to be screened, and letters that make it through that round are sent to Letters About Literature program coordinators in participating states. This year, 124 letters made it through the national screening
to be judged in Oregon. Locally, judges are selected by the program coordinator at the State Library, and those judges select a winner, runner-up, and potential honorable mentions for each contest level. In Oregon, anyone whose letter makes it through the
national screening but does not place in the state is considered a semi-finalist. As a final step, the winning letter from each of the three levels for all participating states advances to be judged at the national level. The Library of Congress will announce
national winners next week.<br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">All Oregon honorees receive a certificate from the Oregon Center for the Book. Additionally, first place winners each receive $100, runners-up $50, honorable mentions a $25 bookstore gift
card, and semi-finalists a $10 bookstore gift card. These were the Oregon judges: Level I: author Dawn Prochovnic, children’s librarian Kathy Viemeister, and school librarian Erin Fitzpatrick-Bjorn; Level II: author Pamela Smith Hill, youth librarian Ann SeCoy,
and school librarian Shelby Linn; Level III: author Nancy Osa, youth librarian Violeta Garza, and retired school librarian Marlene Lee. Winning letters will be posted soon on the State Library website,
<a href="http://www.oregon.gov/osl/LD/Pages/youthsvcs/aboutlit.aspx">http://www.oregon.gov/osl/LD/Pages/youthsvcs/aboutlit.aspx</a>.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Oregon State Library is located at 250 Winter St. NE in Salem. The public is welcome to attend the Letters About Literature Awards celebration in the meeting room on the first floor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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