The Manhattan Public Library sponsored an art and writing contest in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Judging for the contest took place Monday afternoon.

The theme for this year's event, "What am I DOING for others," was chosen by the contest coordinators at the library. The theme was based on a quote from Dr. King.

"The ironic thing is we chose this theme in October or November," said Janene Hill, young adult librarian for the library. "And the same quote was chosen the nationwide MLK Foundation theme."

Students in the Manhattan area from kindergarten through 12th grades were encouraged to submit artistic or written pieces in relation to the theme.

"Sometimes students do them as part of school projects," Hill said. "It's always nice to see classroom contributions."

Hill also said younger students - usually in elementary schools - that do weekly art projects use the contest as a chance to complete their week's assignment. School teachers often use Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a theme for assignments during that week.

The deadline for students to turn in their entries was extended from the original day until noon Monday and the judging was shortly after that deadline.

"The contest is the library's contribution to MLK community celebrations," Hill said. "We take entries through the library, recruit the judges and do the judging here."

The judges were chosen from various places in the community: three instructors from K-State, one staff member from the Beach Museum of Art, one instructor from a local junior college, and some library staff members.

Judges chose one "Best In Show" for each of the two categories, along with first place winners and honorable mentions in both. Overall, there were 152 entries total, 92 in the writing category and 60 in the art category.

"There were 19 total winners this year," Hill said. "The ‘Best In Show' winners received a gift certificate to the Town Center Mall, a book provided by the library."

The "Best In Show" winner for the writing category was Cassidy Harper, a student from Eisenhower Middle School, with her piece titled "What Am I Doing for Others?" For the art category, Samantha Kinderknecht, a student from Lee Elementary School, won with her piece titled "Trying to Love Others."

The first place winners in both categories received a book and all the students who won received a certificate for their achievement.

Hill said the library has been doing this event for the past couple years. She also said the children's department of the library is setting up a display that will be up sometime next week. The winners, along with some of the other students' entries, will be displayed for library visitors.