PLAINSBORO: Library sponsors ‘Wordtastic’ event

By Allison Musante, Staff Writer
   PLAINSBORO — To inspire a love for language in children and adults, the Public Library is kicking off a summer full of words with the Wordtastic story slam competition.
   The library is now accepting entries in two age divisions, grades four through eight and high school through adult. Participants will be asked to create a story of 50 words or fewer using 10 pre-selected, randomly chosen words. The words which must be included are: candle, small, adobe, persnickety, money, charisma, chicken, fountain, gospel and beautiful.
   ”This is the first time we’ve done this at the library,” said Julie Donaldson, head of Children’s Programming at the library. “But it should be a lot of fun. I love intergenerational events, too, bringing people of all ages together.”
   The program idea evolved out of a brainstorming session among the summer programming staff. When choosing what this summer’s theme should be, Ms. Donaldson said words were the obvious choice because last year’s theme was numbers. She said a story slam would be an enjoyable twist on poetry slams, which the library has hosted in the past.
   ”We did a trial run in May and it was so much fun,” she said. “We created our own stories from lists of random words we had chosen. The initial idea was to have everyone write the story on the spot, but we found the stories got better and funnier after being edited. So that’s why (participants) will have as much time as they need.”
   The staff will screen the entries and choose about a dozen finalists to perform or read their original work. A panel of judges, selected from the Plainsboro Literary Group and the audience, will award a trophy to one winner from each division.
   ”There’s no pressure to perform but we want everyone to get as crazy and wacky with it as they want,” she said.
   The performance will be held at 7 p.m. on July 5 at the library.
   Other “wordtastic” events this summer include designing illuminated letters, which is an ancient art form, Ms. Donaldson said, building pop-up books and making letters to hang in the Children’s Room using different art forms.
   ”When we think about summer programming, we want to do something general but also enlightening,” Ms. Donaldson said. “Words fit in perfectly with the library and it’s been a lot of fun making this year’s programs. They will bring words to life.”
   The library is accepting entries until 5 p.m. on June 26. Stories may be e-mailed to [email protected] or mailed or dropped off at the library on 9 Van Doren St. Entries should include name, age and phone number.