In a competition to create the most original and compelling public service announcement promoting libraries to teens, the team of Malcolm Minor and Nicole Thompson, from the Malcolm X. Shabazz High School, Newark, took top honors for their spot \x93Baby Come Back,\x94 which will air on New Jersey Network from September 13 \x96 24 at 7:29 p.m. The well written and produced parody of a Geico Insurance commercial has a library book with eyes trying to convince a young girl to come back to the library. The piece was filmed at the East Brunswick Public Library.

The competition was sponsored by the NJ State Library and the Newark Public Library. \x93We asked teens at the schools in Newark with video programs to create public service announcements aimed at teens not using the library to give the library a try,\x94 said Nancy Dowd, director of marketing for the NJ State Library. \x93We knew these teens were very creative and wanted their voice to encourage their peers to go to the library.\x94 It is hoped the program would serve as a model for other communities to form library/school partnerships to promote more teens using the library.

Second place honors went to a team from East Side High for \x93Groundbreaking Literacy Device.\x94 Third place honors were shared by another team from East Side High for \x93OMG He\x92s in the Public Library,\x94 and the students from Arts High School for \x93The Library - Where Imagination Happens.\x94

\x93The students from these schools have remarkable abilities and a definite insight on what is important to them and teens in general,\x94 said Paul Pattwell, administrator of the Newark Public Library. \x93Their knowledge and perception about the importance of libraries, to both them and their community, is evidenced in these films, as is their technical ability and creative spirit in front of and behind the camera. Having seen the final product, I am left with a clear notion that despite the many competing influences and distractions facing our teens, daily, libraries remain an integral part their lives.\x94

Minor is now attending Ramapo College; Thompson is attending The College of New Jersey.

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