Every year, the Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP) hosts a national video challenge competition, the CLSP Teen Video Challenge, in an effort to encourage teens to get involved with reading, videography and, of course, their library"s summer reading program. This year, twenty-six states participated and one winner was selected from each state. The winners were announced on April 9, 2014 during the CSLP Annual Meeting held in Biloxi, Mississippi.
This year, China Wilson, 18, was selected as the winner for the State of Texas. For her hard work, China received a monetary award of $275 and the Arlington Public Library received $125 worth of certificates and prizes. This was the first year that Arlington Public Library participated in the CLSP Teen Video Challenge. Arlington Public Library had three teens enter their videos into competition and there were over 100 teens who entered in the participating states.
China Wilson has been visiting Arlington Public Library and their Youth Technology Center for the past year and has been heavily involved with many different programs. She is currently an active member of the Teen Zone Book Club at the Northeast Branch Library. Last fall, she also participated in APL"s first-ever Photography Series. Her work was showcased for a month in The Studio at the George W. Hawkes Central Library.
China"s video, Inspired to Inspire, was created based on some of the reading challenges that a few of her family members have encountered. Determined to overcome the reading challenges, China devoured every book she could get her hands on and she encouraged her family to do the same. You can see many members of China"s family included in the video as well as a brief glance of Olivia Jones, 15, fellow Teen Video Challenge participant and newcomer to Arlington Public Library. The two met during the video challenge program series and became fast friends. China even convinced Olivia (and her younger brother) to join the Teen Zone book club at the Northeast Branch Library.
Despite some setbacks over the course of the 5-week video series, being able to pinpoint what her video should include, staying focused and at one point even losing all of her work due to technical issues, China preserved and went on to win the competition.
China"s video has a simple, but powerful message that seems to encompass the very essence of summer reading programs around the country: "Everyone reads at their pace. And that"s okay." Before entering into the Teen Summer Reading Club Film Series, China had never even heard of a summer reading program and now her video will help to spread the word.
The winning video, as well as the other participants" videos, can be found on the library website as well as our Summer Reading Club website:
http://www.arlingtonlibrary.org/teens
http://mysrc.org/
To view this year"s winning videos, as well as those around the country, please visit CSLP"s website:
http://www.cslpreads.org/programs/young-adult-program/teen-video-challenge/2014-teen-video-winners.html
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