(via Gwen Gregory, University of Illinois at Chicago)
For the past five years, the Soon to Be Famous Illinois Author Project (STBF) has been working with library staff to make the contest a success. Libraries participate in two ways: judging and sponsoring. Seventeen degreed librarians from around the state have offered to be the judges for this year’s contest, and another 22 libraries have helped nominate a self-published author so far. The deadline for nominations is Monday, January 8.
Librarians who are judges will each read between three and six books before the winner is announced during National Library Week in April. Sponsoring libraries assist the STBF project and self-published authors by helping them enter the program. All library types are encouraged to participate. In order to enter their book, an author NEEDS a library staff member to provide contact information and online submission. It’s not a difficult or lengthy task. More information regarding what library staff and authors need to do, can be found on the STBF website.
As a thank you gift to libraries for their ongoing support of this project, the sponsoring library of this year’s winner will receive one free registration to either the 2018 ILA Conference or the 2018 Reaching Forward conference!
The participating academic libraries is below. For more information, including the full list of libraries that are part of the Project, go to https://www.railslibraries.info/news/143992.
Newberry Library
Triton College Library
University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry Library