We are looking for stories and art that capture the essence of YOUR personal library story. Maybe it’s the first time you ever stepped foot in a library, or a story time that inspired you as a kid, or a fictional short story about a fantastical library that reminds you of your home library. Whatever it is, as long as it has to do with libraries, we want to hear it, see it, and admire it!
THE BASICS
Submissions open at 8:00am on April 7th and close at 11:59pm on June 30th, 2025.
Submissions, if selected, have a chance to be featured in the first-ever Pottstown Library zine!
-Submissions will be reviewed and selected by the Pottstown Library staff.
-If your piece is selected, you will receive 1 (one) free copy of the zine once it is published.
–You retain any and all creative and intellectual rights over the piece. Always. We do not care if you concurrently submit to other opportunities. If your piece is selected, you will be credited in whatever way you desire. Please ensure you explicitly write “By ________” on all submissions.
CREATIVE WRITING SUBMISSIONS
-Pieces should be submitted in a readable font, preferably Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri at 11 or 12 point.
-Pieces should be submitted in a Word document (.docx) or PDF document format (.pdf). PLEASE NO LINKS.
-Poetry and prose are both encouraged. Pieces should not exceed a maximum of 5,000 words.
Please ensure your piece has a title and the author’s name is clearly stated, as shown to the right. For additional insurance, please include your last name in a header or footer with the page numbers of your document.
The Pottstown Regional Public Library’s mission statement is to work “to strengthen our diverse community by providing free and open access to resources that inform, instruct, inspire, and promote lifelong learning.” Therefore, we will IMMEDIATELY DISCARD any submissions that violate this mission statement or perpetrate bigotry or intolerance. The mission of this project is to bring our wonderful community together, not further widen the divide.
VISUAL ART SUBMISSIONS
-Pieces can be in any medium or any size so long as they are able to be submitted electronically (scanned or photographed).
-Please take a photo or scan of the piece in high quality resolution and save it as a JPEG, PNG, or PDF format.
-Include artist name, signature, or watermark clearly on the photograph/scan.
Note how this t-shirt design has the artist’s signature, is in high-quality resolution, and is saved in a .jpeg format.
The Pottstown Regional Public Library’s mission statement is to work “to strengthen our diverse community by providing free and open access to resources that inform, instruct, inspire, and promote lifelong learning.” Therefore, we will IMMEDIATELY DISCARD any submissions that violate this mission statement or perpetrate bigotry or intolerance. The mission of this project is to bring our wonderful community together, not further widen the divide.
TO SUBMIT
We are accepting submissions in the correct format (.docx, .pdf, .jpeg, .png) as attachments to an email.
Please email our Adult Services Coordinator at mbealer@mclinc.org with your submission. Make the subject of the email “OUR LIBRARY STORY SUBMISSION [your name here].”
In the body of the email, please include the TITLE of your submission, YOUR NAME as you would like it to appear as the author/artist, and your EMAIL ADDRESS and PHONE NUMBER so we can contact you about your submission. Then ATTACH your submission as an email attachment in the correct format as detailed above. Should you choose to submit your piece under a pseudonym or “anonymous,” please indicate this in your email while also providing us with your name for contact purposes.
Should you have any questions about the submission process, please email mbealer@mclinc.org.