Contest Information
Celebrate and help us promote the library’s One Read, One Springfield program with our bookmark design contest! The winning bookmark(s) will be printed and distributed for the Summer 2027 community read. The contest runs from October 1st, 2026 to November 30th, 2026.
We’re looking for designs that focus on the Springfield City Library and what it means to you. Designs will be selected by library staff based on artistic merit, creativity, and the message communicated. What does the library mean to you? How does the library fit into the Springfield community? Get creative!
Participants can pick up a blank bookmark packet to decorate from any Springfield City Library location during open hours, or design one digitally and submit through an online form. All entries will be anonymously reviewed after November 30th, and winner(s) will be notified after February 1st.
All submissions must be accompanied by a completed Photo/Creative Works Release and received online or at a library location by Monday, November 30th, 2026 at 8 pm EST. Only complete entries will be reviewed.
Contest Rules
- The One Read, One Springfield bookmark design contest is open to all Springfield, MA residents and residents of neighboring communities. Participants must be at least 13 years of age. Entries by participants aged 13-18 will be placed in the Young Adult category, while entries by participants 19 and older will be in the Adult category. The contest will run from Thursday, October 1st, 2026 at 9am to Monday, November 30th, 2026 at 8 pm.
- Entries must be completed via an official application, available at the Springfield City Library or online, and accompanied by a signed Photo/Creative Works Release form.
- Springfield City Library employees and members of the Springfield City Library Commissions may not enter. Relatives of library employees or commissioners may enter, but the related library employees/commissioners shall be recused from judging.
- Only complete entries will be reviewed.
- Entries containing obscene wording, imagery, or references will be disqualified.
- The submitted entry must be the creative and original work of a single individual. No AI-generated content will be allowed.
- Artwork must be either a paper submission using physical art materials, or a digitally drawn or photographic submission formatted as a high resolution PDF (300 dpi). Artwork must be two-dimensional for printing purposes, and bookmarks must be single-sided.
- Physical designs should be 6” high by 2” wide, submitted on the template provided in the entry packet at a Springfield City Library location.
- One entry per contestant. Should a contestant submit multiple entries, the most recent entry will be considered the final entry, and earlier submissions will not be reviewed.
- The deadline to submit design entries is Monday, November 30th, 2026 at 8 pm EST.
- Entries will be anonymously reviewed by Young Adult and Adult judging panels, and winners will be notified after February 1st.
Prizes
The top two Young Adult designs will receive used copies of Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults by Robin Wall Kimmerer. The top three Adult designs will receive used copies of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. The winning design overall will be printed as a bookmark to promote the 2027 One Read, One Springfield community read. (subject to change without notice)
One Read, One Springfield is a community-wide event that encourages adult readers to all read the same book. The goal of the event is to foster community and connection between our residents. In the fall, there will be programs at all of our library locations related to the book selection that highlight its themes.