About the Competition
Purpose
To encourage students at Washington University to read for enjoyment and to develop personal libraries throughout their lives.
Awards
Awards will be given in two categories: graduate and undergraduate. There will be a first- and second-place award for each of the two categories. First prize is $1,000; second prize is $500.
Eligibility
Except for previous Neureuther winners, any full-time, currently registered Washington University student is eligible to participate. Students enter by submitting a two- to four-page essay and a bibliography of her/his collection. Collections of any size and on any subject are eligible. Judging is based on collection description, personal value, and writing quality.
Collection Requirements
The book collection must be owned by the contest entrant. (NOTE: If and when an entrant's essay is awarded a prize, s/he must be prepared to submit a representative sample of books [three to five] from the collection to the contest committee for temporary display by the Libraries.) Collections may be of any size and on any subject and should reflect the owner's intellectual, personal or recreational interests.
Criteria for Entry
Entries accepted in Special Collections at Olin Library from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. weekdays.
All entries must consist of the following elements:
- A completed entry form.
- An essay. The essay should be typed, double-space, on
white, 8 ½ x 11-inch paper, at least two pages but no
longer than four pages. [See Judging
section, below, for essay criteria]. Submit
three copies; one with your name on it, two without.
- A formal bibliography to demonstrate a representative
sampling of the book collection. This can be attached to the end of your essay. Use an established style
guide, such as The Chicago Manual of Style or The MLA
Handbook or one of the APA Style series. Submit
three copies; one with your name on it, two without.
Judging
Judging of the essay will be based on the theme and scope of the collection, approach to collecting, personal value to the collector, and quality of the writing, but will not be judged on rarity, marketplace value, or size of the collection. Judging will be conducted by a panel of volunteers drawn from the faculty of Washington University and from the St. Louis community.
Notification
Once judging is completed all entrants will be notified. The winners of the competition will be notified at the end of March, at which point they will submit three to five books from their collections to the contest committee, which will host an awards luncheon in early April with the judges and the university librarian. Portions of the winning collections may be displayed in Olin Library for a brief period, and the winning essays will be posted on the Libraries' website.