SOUTH BRUNSWICK – Reading a book could earn prizes

By Mary Brienza, Staff Writer
    Residents with a library card and that have recently read a book, could win a trip to see the Harlem Globetrotters on either Feb. 19 or Feb. 21 at the Izod Center in East Rutherford.
    The trip is part of a contest that will give out tickets to four different events at the Izod Center, Chris Carbone, director of the South Brunswick Public Library said this week.
    The contest was sponsored in the past by the New Jersey State Library, but this year is being run by the township liýPage=002 Column=001 Loose,0060.01þ brary as part of a pilot program that has 10 municipal libraries each running the contest on its own with the State Library only providing the tickets, Mr. Carbone said.
    Entering the contest is free, quick, and easy for residents, and the contest for the Globetrotters tickets will end Saturday, Mr. Carbone said.
    To enter the contest, residents must have a library card, have read a book, fill out a form and drop it in a jar by the either the reference desk or the children’s desk, at the South Brunswick Public Library, Mr. Carbone said.
    Library staff will pick a name from the jar, Mr. Carbone said.
   ýPage=002 Column=002 Loose,0055.01þ The first contest winners, who won a trip to see a monster truck show on Feb. 4 at the Izod Center, were picked last week, Mr. Carbone said.
    The winners will have a week to pick up the tickets from the library, Mr. Carbone said.
    “The contest promotes reading, literacy, and family activities,” Mr. Carbone said. “We encourage everyone to be reading anyway.”
    The contest is part of the State Library Champion Program, Mr. Carbone said, and is run by the New Jersey Library Association, which is the biggest and oldest library organization in the state, according to the website.
    The State Library Champion Program was founded to “champion the cause of reading,” Mr. Carbone said.
    The library will be running its own library champions program soon, Mr. Carbone said.