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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#142: Librarian Love

April 16th is National Librarian Day in the US! You may know your local librarian as the person who helps you find your next great read, but librarians accomplish a lot that we may never notice — acquiring new books, helping patrons conduct research, and working with schools or other community groups. 


Ultimately, a librarian’s main job is to continue democratizing information so everyone can have access to whatever it is they want to learn. Pretty cool!


We believe librarians are massively important public servants in any thriving community, so to celebrate them we’re inviting you to write a story based on one of these five prompts:

This week's prompts

Start your story with someone being given a book recommendation.

Middle School – 33 stories

Write a story about a librarian that doesn’t fit into the common librarian stereotypes.

Fiction – 62 stories

Write about a character on the hunt to solve a mystery who uses their local library (or librarian) as a source of information.

Thriller and Suspense – 25 stories

Write a story that includes one character reading aloud to another.

Dialogue – 30 stories

Write about somebody who likes to work in silence.

Dialogue – 25 stories

Stories

“Memories” by Bill VanPatten

Submitted to Contest #142

The floorboard creaked as I stepped into the windowless room. Dimly lit, it was the size of a palatial dining hall. A small table sat in the center with one chair. No other furniture adorned the room, save the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves populated by thousands of volumes—maybe a million. The books were of different sizes and thicknesses, but all their spines looked the same: black with gold embossing. I stepped closer and furrowed my brow. Instead of titles, the spines had a series of numbers. I focused on one. 4.1.72.8:01. I’ve been to lib...

1 comment 1
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“Never judge a book by its cover” by Rebecca Stack

Submitted to Contest #142

Growing up in her small town, people were always quick to judge Jessie. She was in to punk music as a teenager so not at all a fit with the usual suburban stereotypes found in her home town. It was full to the brim of those that wouldn’t say boo to a goose and were happy to fade into the shadows.  Her expression of herself was simply too much for them to comprehend. Maybe their jealousy was caused by the fact that she was able to and they never felt comfortable to.  Bullying her for her choices took the limelight of...

4 comments 4
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“Order, According to Angela” by Barbara Burgess

Submitted to Contest #142

Oh shit. He’s standing at the door waiting for me.“You’re late.” Angela’s new boss held up his arm and pointed repeatedly at his watch. “Two minutes. To be precise. Ask Miss Warboyes to man the front desk and come into my office as soon as you’ve sorted yourself out. I want a word with you.”“Yes, Mr. Davies.”Two bloody minutes. What’s two bloody minutes? Angela mumbled under her breath as she hung up her coat and put her handbag in the locker in the staff room. Then she stormed over to Mr. Davies’ office, which was neatly set in a corner at ...

6 comments 6
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“Lusting After The Librarian” by Laura Eliz

Submitted to Contest #142

I love books. I also love libraries. The first thing I do when I travel somewhere is find a local library and a local book shop. Libraries serve as great spots to brave a rain shower and books are great companions on a quiet night in, or train ride. They also make wonderful gifts and I buy them as souvenirs from my travels. I like local libraries. You can learn a lot about a community by just perusing the library. What types of events is the library hosting? What classes if any does the library host? What postin...

2 comments 2
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“A Tale of Treasures” by Rochelle Miller

Submitted to Contest #142

"By appointment only" - the sign on the lawn alerted incoming guests. A young boy, about the age of 12, made the arrangements, coaxing his reluctant mother to come along.   It was a strange building.  The glass walls secured ocean waters, housing fishes big and small and sea life of all kinds. This was not an aquarium, like most would imagine. It was a place to gather and share tales, preserving the stories of aquatic antiquity, guiding the ideas for the future.  Entering through a stone archway, the boy and his mothe...

4 comments 4
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“Revelations” by Minerva Noiropp

Submitted to Contest #142

There are all sorts of libraries in the world. Some are in buildings that you have to go to. Others are mobile and the stories are able to come to you. Then there are those who are virtual, on the internet, available for anyone with access to the internet and a search engine. I had a mystery I had to solve, of late. It took many visits to the library to find the information I needed. However, this wasn't the average sort of library. It is a very special one. To access it you need a unique key. This key I am talking about is one very hard to ...

2 comments 2
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“Into the Pages” by Rhonda Williams

Submitted to Contest #142

There was something in Doss Hall that shouldn’t be there. After a moment, Victoria opened the padlock and pushed the fence open, then unlocked the library’s front door. She stalled for a moment with her hand on the doorknob and glanced behind her. The black of night was all-consuming and she couldn’t see past her parked car right in front of her. The street lamp directly above flickered randomly until it completely stopped and went out. The emptiness of the cool, fall night sent chills down her body. She pulled the door open and let out a...

2 comments 2
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“The Scriptorium Archivist” by R W Mack

Submitted to Contest #142

“The Saint Francis de Sale Biblioteque appreciates the return of our stolen materials.” “Of course,” Detective Lawrence Oulette said with a practiced smile. “Everything in its rightful place, eh?” He fidgeted with his father’s ring; a gift for graduation from the police academy. It’d been his grandfather’s before and great-grandfather's as well. The library curator nodded in his habit, brown as the vellum binding of the booms he placed below the counter. “We were concerned to have a theft of such historic relevance. We are blessed to have ...

2 comments 2
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“The Most Dangerous Books” by Allison Barrett Clark

Submitted to Contest #142

Everybody at the library knew not to turn their backs to the books. The library was designed so that you could never do it, except on purpose. Because the books at Ashpointe library weren’t like the others: they were dangerous.  Even so, Nina still liked them. Even when her fathers scolded her, she ran her fingers along their spines to feel the leathery backs. She wasn’t allowed to read them, and even if she was, she couldn’t. No one in Ashpointe knew how to read. They were librarians, not scholars. About once every month a scholar wo...

2 comments 2
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“A Day In a Life” by Maryam Ahmed

Submitted to Contest #142

Michael July 4th, 2022​ Collage Counselor Office,​ ​        It's the first Monday of the month. Most Americans are now partying  or planning to. Most labors are given a holiday also. But not for us, not for the greatest  Collage Counselor office. Not the one where the greatest Ambrose work. Fine with me though. I don't have much to do outside the office. And I like when collage studen...

2 comments 2
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“Silent Music” by Fred Aiken

Submitted to Contest #142

The noise never stops. I guess if you want it to stop, then you have to stop it yourself. Or at least that’s what I’ve come to realize. I had this house specially built to filter out all noise. The house I’ve lived in for nearly forty years. The windows are hermetically sealed and soundproof. The walls were reinforced with several layers of concrete, insulation, and some specialized audio killing foam made in a lab by some MIT whiz kid I hired to eliminate the possibility of any sound coming into my house. I don’t think I was supposed to do ...

2 comments 2
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“The Course of Silence” by Fred Gallagher

Submitted to Contest #142

The Course of Silence Whenever he arrived, Hack found the outlying fairgrounds where he would be working and located the tents where the help stayed. Most times, though, he would pick out a little clearing in the woods nearby, where he could be by himself in the way he wanted to be, no braggarts abounding or drunk dutchmen acrobats or fights over women or with women. Then he’d look for a local structure (a barn was usually best, though he’d settle for an airy chicken coop, if need be, or even a low limbed elder, or willow) where he could fil...

4 comments 4
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“The best book recommendation” by Beckie Gaskill

Submitted to Contest #142

“I know it’s a book from the 1950s, but I think it will help you,” he said, holding out the dusty volume. “What is this supposed to be?” she huffed, leaving the book in his outstretched hand. “It’s called How to Properly Care for Your Man,” he said. “I suppose it’s not something you’re born with, and Lord knows your mother wasn’t a good teacher in that department. I thought it might help you learn something.” He tossed the book on the table. Shirley heard the screen door slam as he left through the kitchen door. “Leave my mother out of this...

3 comments 3
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“Your Heart's Desire” by Renee Elizabeth

Submitted to Contest #142

Kate glanced anxiously at the sky. The clouds were angry and gray. It was still a long walk to get back to her house, and she didn’t want to anyway. There was too great a chance that her Mom would be home with her boyfriend. She was still nursing her bruises from the last time she had walked in on a date night. Raindrops started pelting her face and she looked around for a place to take shelter. The only place that looked open was what appeared to be a coffee shop on the corner. She ran in, her school bag over her head. The shop wa...

2 comments 2
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“Look out, Look up, Look within” by Clara Candace Farr

Submitted to Contest #142

“What an imposing huge brick building,” she thought as she climbed the cement stairs. She was thankful she had a library in her city, not to mention so close to home. Linda the librarian was standing behind the massive front desk as she approached. Linda Lovely had given her enjoyable book recommendations in the past, but today Jessica felt lost and lackluster. She could not put her finger on how she was feeling. Thoughts filled her mind as Linda made eye contact with her. Jessica smiled and greeted her “good morning.” Li...

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$250

Prize money

175

Contest entries

129

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Apr 22, 2022 EST

Won by Deidra Whitt Lovegren 🏆

Title: What You Can Do With Your Book

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

Prompts | Many Hands | 2024-09

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