Neureuther Competition
The 2025 Neureuther Competition is now open.
The Carl Neureuther Student Book Collection Essay Competition encourages students at WashU to read for enjoyment and to develop personal libraries throughout their lives.
Please see the Student Book Collecting Research Guide for more information on Carl Neureuther and book-collecting resources.
About the Competition
Awards
Awards will be given in two categories: graduate and undergraduate. There will be a first- and second-place award for each category. The first prize is $1,000, and the second prize is $500.
Eligibility
Except for previous Neureuther winners, any full-time, currently registered WashU student is eligible to participate. Students enter by filling out an entry form and uploading a two- to four-page essay and a bibliography of their 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: Contest winners must be prepared to submit a representative sample of books (two to three) from their collections to the contest committee. The books will be returned after the award ceremony. Collections may be of any size, on any subject, and should reflect the owner’s intellectual, personal or recreational interests.
Submission Guidelines
Entries must include the following elements:
- Completed entry forms must be submitted via the online portal. Submission deadline: March 7, 2025, at 5 pm.
- An essay. The essay should be typed, double-spaced, on white, 8 ½ x 11-inch paper, at least two pages but no longer than four pages. See the Judging section below for essay criteria. Please submit the essay as part of the online entry form.
- 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, the MLA Handbook, or one of the APA Style series. Visit our Citing Your Sources Research Guide for additional assistance. Please submit the bibliography as part of the entry form.
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 primarily from the WashU faculty, with a past graduate-level winner or local Library supporter often serving.
Notification
All entrants will be notified once the judging is completed. The competition winners will be notified in April, at which point they will submit three to five books from their collections to the contest committee, which will host an awards ceremony with the judges and the university librarian.
Winning Essays
Browse winning essays from past years on Open Scholarship.
