What started out as a simple way to get teens interested in reading turned out to be a huge return on investment for the Oak Park Neighborhood Library. Assistant Manager Stephanie Iser explains, "I was looking for something for our frequent teen visitors to do, so I thought I'd sign our library up for the Wrestlemania Reading Challenge. One of our 5th grade participants designed a winning bookmark that won the library 2,000 dollars".
The Wrestlemania Reading Challenge ran from October to January and challenged teens to read 10 books and complete an activity. Participants had the chance to win an all-expenses paid trip to see Wrestlemania 25 while staying in a 5-star hotel room with $300 spending cash. Winners also earned $2,000 to expand their library's teen collection. The 2009 challenge asked teens to read 10 books and design a bookmark about "Why reading is important."
Designed by a panel of professional librarians from the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), the challenge is intended to get teens interested in reading for pleasure, especially the reluctant readers. "We work with a handful of teens that normally complain about reading," said Mrs. Iser. "One these reluctant readers, hoping to win a trip to Wrestlemania, found that he enjoyed reading manga series. Since then, he has continued checking out lots of manga and graphic novels."
Herlinda Aparicio, wrestlemania challenge winner from Johnson County Library!
Herlinda Aparicio decided to participate in the reading challenge because she is a big fan of Wrestlemania. Her bookmark won at the local level, and was sent to regional finals and judged against the best designs in the country. In March, Stephanie Iser received an e-mail from Beth Yoke, YALSA's Executive Director, announcing Herlinda as one of the regional winners. Mrs. Iser reflects, "I had run this contest many times at previous libraries, but this was the first time we had a winner. Herlinda's bookmark was very unique and impressive."
When Stephanie Iser called Herlinda to share the good news, Herlinda was surprised: "I was really surprised because there are lots of fans to compete with. And I had never been to Wrestlemania before!”
After winning the contest, Herlinda was congratulated by Donna Lauffer, County Librarian of Johnson County Library. She also made an appearance at the Library Board meeting where she was thanked by the Board members for her work and applauded by the community.
The Vacation in Houston: Meeting the Stars
On Friday April 3rd, Herlinda arrived in Houston with her family to begin a fun-filled weekend that kicked-off with a book trivia challenge. Herlinda helped keep score during this contest while the students in higher grades answered trivia questions about the books they read.
Next, Herlinda met some of the wrestling stars during a pizza party for the Make-a-Wish foundation. Herlinda reflects,"When I first saw the stars, I was really excited. I had never met one of them in person before and I was able to talk with them.”
Herlinda saw the superstars once again during Axxess, which is a special time when the famous wrestlers take photos with fans and sign autographs. Some of the stars that Herlinda met include John Cena, Layla, Matt Hardy, Mark Henry, and Jimmy Hart.
The weekend ended with the much anticipated Wrestlemania 25 show, where Herlinda watched her newly acquainted wrestling friends on the stage. When Herlinda looks back on her trip, she says “it was really fun because we met the superstars, had a pizza party with John Cena, and we got to watch the show in the arena. I didn’t want to leave."
The Buying Trip
In May 2009, Herlinda Aparicio met with Collection Development Manager Mary Anne Hile and Assistant Manager Stephanie Iser to began spending some of money that was earned for the Oak Park Library’s teen collection. The trio browsed the stock at a local book store where Herlinda picked out titles she thought would be good for the teen collection at Oak Park.
"I wondered what books people thought would be good to read," said Herlinda, and then she picked out appealing titles for purchase.
The rest of the funds will be used to purchase titles that reluctant teen readers would enjoy. Additionally, Mrs. Iser selected teen books that reflect Latino culture, supporting the library's strategic initiative to serve the increasing Latino population of Johnson County.
A bookplate will be added to each purchased item, honoring Herlinda Aparicio for her donation to the library. Without Herlinda, this new teen collection would not be possible and we are very thankful for her efforts in earning these new books.
The Final Word
Get ready because the Johnson County Library will particpate in the 2010 Wrestlemania Reading Challenge! Look for a sign-up form in October 2009, after Teen Read Week has completed.
If you're looking for a good book to read for the contest, you might try Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, one of Herlinda’s favorites.
For more information about Wrestlemania check out these links:
