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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:blue">Hi. On behalf of Blythe Ayne, Awards Chair for Willamette Writers, I am recruiting three children’s or youth services librarians to judge
Oregon entries that make it past the national screening for this year’s Letters About Literature contest. I need one judge for each of the three competition levels: Level I for 4th-6th graders, Level II for 7th-8th graders, and Level III for 9th-12th graders.
A school librarian and an Oregon author will also judge entries for each level. Oregon's three winning letters, one from each competition level, will go on to compete nationally.<br>
<br>
If everything goes according to schedule at the national level, </span><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#00B050">you should receive the letters in mid to late March 2016</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:blue">, and
</span><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#00B050">the judges phone meeting should be scheduled for sometime in early April 2016</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:blue">. You will be provided some guidelines to help you make judging decisions.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:blue">As you may know, Letters About Literature is a national reading and writing promotion sponsored by the Center for the Book at the Library
of Congress. Students write letters to an author explaining how that author's book changed their way of thinking about the world or themselves. Letters are sent to the national coordinator for two rounds of screenings. Letters that make it through the screenings
are sent to the LAL coordinator for each state. That is now Blythe at Willamette Writers.
<br>
<br>
<b><i>High School (9<sup>th</sup> – 12<sup>th</sup> grades)</i><br>
</b>For the high school level, anywhere from about 20 to 35 letters usually make it through the national screening. The time commitment will be about 4 to 6 hours to read the letters at your home or office and up to 2 hours in a phone meeting with the other
two judges to select Oregon’s winner, runner-up, and any honorable mentions in your age category. Therefore, you are looking at roughly 6 to 8 hours in total.<br>
<br>
<b><i>Middle School (7<sup>th</sup> & 8<sup>th</sup> grades) <br>
</i></b>For the middle school level, anywhere from about 30 to 60 letters usually make it through the national screening. The time commitment will be about 5 to 7 hours to read the letters at your home or office and up to 2 hours in a phone meeting with the
other two judges to select Oregon’s winner, runner-up, and any honorable mentions in your age category. Therefore, you are looking at roughly a 7 to 9 hour time commitment.<br>
<br>
<b><i>Elementary School (4<sup>th</sup> – 6<sup>th</sup> grades)</i></b><br>
For the elementary level, anywhere from about 50 to 75 letters usually make it through the national screening. The time commitment will be about 6 to 8 hours to read the letters at your home or office and up to 2 hours in a phone meeting with the other two
judges to select Oregon’s winner, runner-up, and any honorable mentions in your age category. Therefore, you are looking at roughly a 8 to 10 hour time commitment.<br>
<br>
We usually have just over 1,000 Oregon students enter the contest annually, and a large percentage of them receive cash prizes or bookstore gift certificates. These prizes are made possible through support from the Library of Congress, the Oregon Reading Association,
and the Oregon Library Association's Oregon Association of School Libraries, Children's Services Division, and Oregon Young Adult Network. <br>
<br>
At the national level, 3 first-place and 3 second-place winners will be selected – 1 each per competition level. National winners each receive a $1,000 cash award while second-place winners receive $150 each. Historically, Oregon students do well at the national
level, and in the last few years we have had a national winner and several runners-up. <br>
<br>
If you have any questions, please contact me. For more information about Letters About Literature, visit
<a href="http://willamettewriters.com/letters-about-literature/">http://willamettewriters.com/letters-about-literature/</a>. <br>
<br>
</span><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#00B050">If you are interested in helping, please try to respond by Tuesday evening, November 3<sup>rd</sup></span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:blue">. If you were a judge two or more years ago, you are
welcome to help again. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:blue">Thanks,<br>
Jen<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:blue">Jennifer Maurer<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:blue">School Library Consultant<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:blue">Oregon State Library<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:blue">250 Winter Street NE<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:blue">Salem, OR 97301<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:blue">503.378.5011<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:blue"><a href="mailto:jennifer.maurer@state.or.us">jennifer.maurer@state.or.us</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:blue"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:blue">OSLIS ||
<a href="www.oslis.org">www.oslis.org</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:blue">Learn to research. Research to learn.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:blue"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:blue">FOLLOW US:</span><span style="color:blue">
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