The Library: Created by an 8 year old patron and voted as best in Youth and Literary categories
The Penn Wynne Library in the Lower Merion Library System, held its 2nd Annual Peeps Diorama Contest from March 26-31.
This program was inspired by the (now defunct) Washington Post Peeps Diorama Contest and by numerous other libraries that have done the same. It was scheduled for the week before Easter, when the public schools have their weeklong Spring Break. Twenty-seven entries were received this year with patrons able to vote in the following categories: Youth (up to age 12), Teen (13-18), Adult, Team/Family, Literary Theme, and Peeple’s Choice, which was the overall winner.
The library provided ballots. Each diorama was provided with a number for easy and fair voting since no names were available. Kids who visited the library were excited to vote, but adults were also notably impressed by the effort (and plentiful Peeps puns!) that went into the dioramas.
Some highlights this year included The Library (winner of the Youth and Literary categories), which was an impressively detailed replica of othe Penn Wynne Library; Noah Peep’s Ark (winner of Adult and Peeple’s Choice); Peeplotte’s Web; and Peepa Pig. Winners received fun Peeps swag, like stuffed animals, earbuds, backpacks, etc.
The library recommends the Peeps Diorama Contest as a program for any library. Patrons created their “masterpeeps” at home so there was no cost to the library except for prizes. The program is mostly passive, so it is very easy for any library, regardless of size, to implement.
If anyone has questions or comments about our contest, they can contact Children’s Librarian Alison King at aking@lmls.org.
Noah Peep’s Ark: Voted best in Adult category and overall Peeple’s Choice
Peep Francis and the World Meeting of Peeps (Team Entry)
Peepa Pig (Team Entry)
Submitted by:
Alison King
Children’s Librarian,
Penn Wynne Library