2023-2024 Martin Luther King Jr. Art & Essay Contest –
Latah County Human Rights Task Force
Theme: FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND OUR LIBRARIES
ART WINNERS
Grades 1-3 Art Topic: Draw a picture about a book that has taught you something important.
Cordelia Haley – Megan Cueller’s 2nd grade class- Lena Whitmore.
After listening to her teacher read books about Martin Luther King, Jr., Cordelia drew a picture of two people, one holding up a sign that says “Justice,” the other holding up a sign that says, “We Want Jobs.”
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Cece Rose Ristene – Peggy Quesnell’s [K’nell] 2nd grade class – St. Mary’s. Cece read a book about a dog who helps other animals. It taught her that being a friend is fun and that being nice is important.
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Eduarda Gurge – Jessica Jones’ 3rd grade art class – Moscow Charter. Eduarda drew “The Great Kapak Tree” with animals in its branches and a rainbow on top. Eduarda learned about the rain forest.
Grades 4-5 Art Topic: Create a drawing or poster celebrating an aspect of the library that you value most.
Quinten Rowley – Jessica Jones’ 4th grade art class – Moscow Charter. Quinten drew a boy enjoying the Latah County Library because it offers “So Many Choices!”
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Haylee Cohee – Jessica Jones’ 5th grade art class – Moscow Charter. Hayley drew “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and shelves of books. She included quotes like “When in doubt, go to the library” by J.K. Rowling and “The library is a wilderness of books” by Henry David Thoreau.
EXCERPTS FROM WINNING ESSAYS
Grades 1-3: Essay Topic: Write a paragraph about a book from your school or public library that taught you something important.
Cordelia Haley – Megan Cuellar’s 2nd grade class – Lena Whitmore
“What I learned from books about Martin Luther King. Stand up for what you believe no matter what. Don’t fight with fists, fight with words. No matter what time it is, there’s always work to do!”
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Leo Johnson – Sophia Curet’s 3rd grade class -St. Mary’s Elementary
“In the story “Being Frank” by Donna Earnhardt I learned that you should always tell the truth but say it nicely. In this story Frank says the truth but he says it in an unkind way. His grandpa shows him how to tell the truth in a nice way. I really enjoyed this book because it’s a really fun story and it teaches you a good lesson.”
Grades 4-5 Essay Topic: Write a three paragraph thank-you letter to your school or public library discussing an aspect of the library that you value most.
Fern Newlan – Shannon Nierman’s 4th grade class – St Mary’s
“People who have libraries sometimes overlook the information they provide…. Here are a few things that libraries provide: books, computers and most importantly knowledge. I’m going to thank the people who write the books.” Among others, she thanks author Barbra O’Conner who “relates to the real world. She shows us that not everything is perfect, but you might find you were supposed to be here all along.”
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Catherine Apt – Wes Bascom’s 4th grade class – McDonald Elementary
“At a young age, Storytime encouraged my interest in reading and helped develop my creativity. It allowed me to be more open minded about different ideas and pushed me to be a creative thinker.” “I have discovered new books by browsing, which has allowed me to find some of my new favorite books. Thank you for having such a fun variety of materials and activities for me to experience throughout my childhood.”
Amy Zhou – Kathryn Bonzo’s 4th grade class – Moscow Charter School
“Libraries want humans and our civilization to have openness for all to be educated and also give us freedom to read, write, and listen which is essential to our democracy.” “The thing I value most about the library is the huge selection of books. I love reading and the library has books for me to read. Thank you for being a generous provider.
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Naya Lee – Jordyn Rauer’s 5th grade class – Lena Whitmore
“My favorite subject is reading, so our school library is very important to me. I love that all students have a wide selection of books to choose from, so that they can all find something that they love.” “I am so glad to have our librarian, Mrs. Marone and her library so that all the kids in our school can have free and easy access to wonderful books.”
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Emily Scout Heward – Kate Roll’s 5th grade class– Lena Whitmore
“I’m little but I’m old enough to know that our library is AWESOME, BEAUTFUL, WONDERFUL, CREATIVE, CALMING and so much more. If we don’t have libraries, we might not have books! When I’m 80 I want to be able to visit our library and show many more generations this wonderful creation.”
FACT TIME! Did you know that the library of congress is the largest library in the world! They have 167 million items on 838 miles of bookshelves!!”
Grades 6-8 Essay Topic: Write a five-paragraph essay explaining why freedom of expression is important to your library and to our democracy.
Nora Algarni – Tiffany Scripter’s 7th grade English class – Moscow Middle School
“If a student reads a book, they might get an opinion on something that could change the future. A book could change a whole generation, and it could change the whole world. So, limiting students from the access of information is not the best option. Let teenagers explore the libraries and have their opinion and thoughts… This is why freedom of expression should be important everywhere because everyone should express themselves and share their opinions with the world.”
Lillian Camin – Tiffany Scripter’s 7th grade English class – Moscow Middle School –
“Freedom of expression can be very important to both school and public libraries as well. According to the American Library Association Library Bill of Rights, all library resources have to be provided and given to establish interests, and to give enlightenment and information to everyone.”
“ I believe that freedom of expression is important for democracies. I think this because of the sharing of ideas and open opinions that help democracies run. One of these reasons is that we have to gain opinions to make decisions and we have to make decisions if we want to govern ourselves.”
Grades 9-12 Essay Topic: Research the current debate over the freedom of expression in school and public libraries. Write a report on this debate, then draw your own conclusions.
Morgan Apt – Rachel Lyons’ Junior Advanced Placement class – Moscow High School –” I believe that the removal of books and censorship in public libraries is drastic and unnecessary. Allowing children to have access to information that is not age appropriate is not ideal. However, violating people’s rights to access material containing any type of perspective or idea is too extreme a measure to prevent children from exposure to harmful information. Additionally, the government could use the removal of inappropriate books to their advantage, disposing not only of books that could be damaging to children, but books that don’t align with certain personal or political beliefs. …. Freedom of expression is heavily valued in a democracy, and literature is a prime example of where differing perspectives and viewpoints are shared…. as allowed under the First Amendment. “