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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

“My Librarian - My Love” by Glen Benison

Submitted to Contest #142

I was positioned in a knee-aching deep squat, searching for Gunter Grass on a low shelf, when the brilliance of two dark eyes appeared through an opening opposite me. My fingers gripped the edge of The Tin Drum to pull it free just as the librarian, on the other side of the aisle, was slipping No Great Mischief into its proper slot. She was sitting on a stool opposite me, in the M,N,O, aisle and I imagined her bare knees pr...

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“Big Bad Librarian?” by Jordan Tope

Submitted to Contest #142

Glossy green eyes looked up at the building in awed confusion. Cecilia was told it was the library she was looking for. But that couldn't be. This place looked more like a grand cathedral than a library. The young woman clutched a card to her chest and held on to her red hood as a strong wind arose. She was looking for something and had been told by her grandmother that she would find it here. Gathering her nerves, she stepped forward and headed towards the door. All the while, she made sure she kept her hood up, if she didn't, it would brea...

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“Beats and Stones” by Sabrina Semidei

Submitted to Contest #142

Cushie Jay wasn’t a bad girl. In fact, there wasn’t a soul in Hallymey Row who could testify to the contrary. And if you kept on driving all the way behind the hill, and stopped in Polton, odds are that no one there could either. Those two small villages, separated by a hollow vast valley everyone called The Bliss, had always been passionate rivals. It has been a tradition since as long as books can remember, that once in possession of a driving license, kids would drive through The Bliss and throw a personal belonging onto the respective to...

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“Redemption” by Mimi Wright

Submitted to Contest #142

My librarian called. She sounded worried, and a little angry. The book I had just returned had water damage, she announced, and because I had borrowed it through interlibrary loan from another library, she was embarrassed to send it on in this condition. I would have to retrieve the book and return it personally to the lending institution, a few miles away. She would keep it in the office behind the main desk for me to pick up. “I understand,” I said. “I’ll come and get it this afternoon.” She was right about the water damage. I ha...

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“Less Like a Shadow” by L Killorin

Submitted to Contest #142

First Day of Spring | Yr. 3052 | Perduna The library closes early on festival days. The city of Perduna sighs and the pear trees sing in white blooms, perfuming streets where children blow rainbow bubbles and vendors throw spiced meat and peaches on sizzling grills. Even the Falcons, in their sharp-edged uniforms, watch the revelry with a softer eye. The Seamstress walks through the streets. She tips a few coins into a donation basket. She chats with the woman with moss twisted in her hair, and buys a flaky pastry from the man in p...

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“The Librarian” by Cassie Landrum

Submitted to Contest #142

Micah frowned at the looming red brick beast and huffed while the morning drama replayed in her head. “*Go this way, go that way. Don’t just sit there like a piece of furniture. Get out of the house for awhile,” Mama commanded, pulling cookies from the oven. “The fresh air will do you good.” “But I’m just getting to the really good part,” Micah whined, snagging a snickerdoodle. “I’ll read outside, okay?” “Micah,” Mama insisted, “find someone to play with. You need friends. We’ve lived here for months now, and ...

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“The Librarian with a Ponytail” by Cara Fidler

Submitted to Contest #142

I first saw him on the campus of a university in Florida. He was drop dead gorgeous with dark hair and beautiful eyes and he had a long ponytail and was wearing cologne. He was the librarian. When I checked my books out, I said hi and gave him my best smile. His shoulders were broad and he wore a tight red short-sleeved shirt that was open at the throat revealing some chest hair. '"Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked, smiling. "Yeah," I said, I racked my brain trying to think of a way to extend the conversation and asked, "A...

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“The Library on Planet Triyn” by Michael Danyluk

Submitted to Contest #142

The hormanchers always come in and start a big ol' rally-o-rips, and it's my job to see to it they don't go hankacher the place down. I'm a librarian by trade, but sometimes I feel more like a body-protector. As the oldies sit and read—and sip on their glourp—it's my job to round up the rough-neckers and throw them out on their zizzerts. But these hormanchers were much too big for me to handle myself, and there were three of them tussling and knocking down selves as if this were the local fight square. I had to get Fitty to help me round the...

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“Not Your Everyday Librarian” by Deb Broughton

Submitted to Contest #142

When you wake with a smile, every day is a good one. When you love your job, it isn’t work. When you are happy with who you are, you will always be yourself. Did I fit a mold? Oh, no! I guess my taste, my clothes, my hair, and my life was a bit eclectic. Some say I have the soul of a gypsy, the heart of a hippie, and the spirit of a fairy. I tend to agree with it all. The birds were warbling sweet notes of sunshine. The water in the pond reflected light as though little dia...

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“THE EMPIRE” by John Minnaar

Submitted to Contest #142

Write about a character on the hunt to solve a mystery who uses their local library (or librarian) as a source of information. AN EMPIRE Mantua – Italy Amadeus stood on the stair pondering matters. Time passed. War had ravaged every one of the Empires from France, Saxony to Prussia and Austria. These were desperate times and the 7 years war had not left one land untouched by the madness of territorial conquests. Even the British were fighting in Canada and further south in America. What did any of this really mean, aside fr...

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“On the Basis of Names” by C. Stacey

Submitted to Contest #142

L. Thomas. Now, who was this guy? Every book I’d checked out from the library had their name in it. Wuthering Heights, Heart of Darkness and hell, I bet if I found the Junie B. Jones books, even those would have their name on the checkout slip. But I had never heard; nor seen their name anywhere else. I’d checked the yearbooks all the way to nineteen-ninety two. Nada, zilch. Nothing. No Leah, no Lester, no Leeroy. Well, there was a Leeroy, but from what Miss Claron said, he’d up and gone to Mississippi before his freshman year started, and h...

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“The Swashbuckler” by Andrew Audibert

Submitted to Contest #142

“Firebrand thrust the spade into the dirt and drew his cutlass. ‘Ye’ll dig, ye scurvy dog, or ye’ll answer to the pointed end of me sword.’ “Alban glared at the shovel, his temper boiling, hot as the Caribbean sun beating down upon him. At some unknown depth beneath his feet lay untold fortune – chests filled with gold, jewels, and artifacts that would fetch unheard of prices. But with it came a hefty cost. He who dug up the treasure would face the wrath of Metacoma’s Curse – a long, miserable life of painful, crippling ailments and the der...

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“Read Aloud” by Gavin Matthew

Submitted to Contest #142

Read Aloud By Gavin Matthew “Try reading that one aloud.” said the odd librarian as he slid a book across his mahogany desk. He smiled at her as she looked over the title, his brown eyes gazing from behind tinted circular glasses. Mira didn’t like the feeling of not knowing. The tall slender man before her had been operating on a level of omniscience since the very minute she had arrived. Odd was too simple a word to describe her whole predicament. Only a few hours ago M...

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“Silence by Madelaine Roberts” by Madelaine Roberts

Submitted to Contest #142

Hogart finished his latest attempt at writing. The price for this traitorous behaviour was silence – he had somewhere quiet, and no other biological did. People think they can withstand constant loud sound – they cannot. It drives you quietly mad, even if you do not see it coming. You can only know yourself in silence and if you never have that you will go insane. Of course, he thought about it but self-preservation is a biological imperative, he thinks. The drones seemed, to Hogart’s already over stimulated body, to be screeching louder t...

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“Broken Silence” by Ian Gonzales

Submitted to Contest #142

“It isn’t silence that bothers me. It’s the noise.” “Why is that?” “Because it usually means something’s gone wrong.” The man sitting across the table from me gives me a look, like he’s still wondering whether to believe me or not. This interview has lasted for hours, and it isn’t the first one I’ve been through. “I’m sorry this process is so involved,” he says, as if sensing my thoughts. “But you have to understand the gravity of the situation, the importance of this job. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that the future of mankind might dep...

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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!

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