Samantha Mrazek was Staples Public Library’s Blue Ribbon Reader winner this summer.
Children and teens at each of Great River Regional Library’s 32 locations were invited to take part in an essay writing contest. They were asked to answer the question: Why do you love to read? Samantha's essay was selected from the Staples entries. Her name was then put in with the names of winners from the 31 other library locations in which Great River Regional Library provides services. The regional winner, from Grey Eagle, received a blue ribbon, a certificate, and four tickets to the Minnesota State Fair provided by CRPSLA, the Council of Regional Public Library System Administrators.
Samantha wrote:
"To me, reading is real life. Real life without conflicts that involve me. Reading is like my second world. In my first world, I have a normal life. My second world is completely different - filled with magic, adventures, wonderful characters and mysteries that I sometimes figure out before the detective. Reading lets me use what we all have deep inside us: imagination."