Libros Lege 4th Annual Read-Aloud Contest 2011

The Winners

Caroline Kielczewski, 1st Place: Trans-Atlantyk by Witold Gombrowicz
Ethan Ensler: The Doll by Boleslaw Prus
Joanne Dynak: Fire in the Steppe by Henryk Sienkiewicz
Karol Kmiecik: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Sylvia Prokopowicz: The Doll by Boleslaw Prus

The Contest Overview

Libros Lege is an annual read-aloud contest. Contestants pick a book from the list provided, read all of it in English, and then choose an excerpt to read out loud in English for a panel of judges and audience. The 5 winners go on a 9-day, all-expenses-paid trip to Warsaw, Poland during the summer of 2011. A parallel contest is held in Warsaw and the 5 winners from Poland travel to Chicago over the summer.
Online registration for this year's contest opened on Sunday, February 17th and closed on Saturday, April 2nd. The readings took place at Eisenhower Public Library in Harwood Heights under the auspices of the Director Ron Stoch and the contest author, Joanna Tucholska. Along with a core of 4 Libros Lege Volunteers Committee judges, there were 3 VIP judges: Nancy Barry Moore, King Kosmala and Ann Szpinor. On Saturday, April 9th, contestants read from 10am to 5pm. On Sunday, April 10th, they read from 1pm to 5pm. About 50 contestants read this year. The judges deliberated until 6pm that Sunday and the winners were contacted by phone later that evening by Patricia Radkowski of the Libros Lege Volunteers Committee.

American Winners Visit to Warsaw

	LL 2011 American winners touring the Polish Sejm in Warsaw, Poland. From left to right: Karol, Ethan, Karoline, Joanne and Sylvia.
	LL 2011 American winners at the reconstructed Royal Palace in Warsaw, Poland. From left to right: Joanne, Karol, Karoline, tour guide, Sylvia and Ethan.
	LL 2011 American winners with the government and library representatives of Kozienice, Poland. From left to right: Elzbieta Stapor (Director of Kozienice Public Library), Sylvia, Karol, Malgorzata Bebelska (Vice-Mayor of Kozienice), Karoline, Joanne, Ethan, two other local representatives.
	LL 2011 American winners at the public library in Kozienice, Poland by the painting of the reading girl, the symbol of Libros Lege. From left to right: Ethan, Sylvia, Karoline, Elzbieta Stapor (Director of Kozienice Public Library), Joanne and Karol.

The Winners in Detail

      This was Caroline Kielczewski's third time reading for Libros Lege - and the third time was the charm. This year she read from Trans-Atlantyk by Witold Gombrowicz. She gave a spell-binding, energetic and extremely amusing reading of a scene where a general challenges a gay Argentinean to a duel over his son's honor. The reading had so much passion and Caroline switched between the two characters so well that she easily won first place. Caroline is studying biology at Loyola University Chicago and lives in Chicago. Her younger sister, Agatha Kielczewski, had won during the second year of the contest in 2009.
      Duels seemed to be magical scenes this year. Ethan Ensler read from The Doll by Boleslaw Prus. He also chose a passage that involved a duel. The Baron and Wokulski meet in the woods with pistols and Wokulski ends up taking out a tooth and shooting a hole in the Baron's mouth. Ethan captured the drama of the scene and its comical finish. Ethan is a junior biomedical engineering major at Northwestern University in Evanston and lives in Evanston although his home is Los Altos, California.
      Sylvia Prokopowicz also read from The Doll by Boleslaw Prus but she chose a conversation between Wokulski and Rzecki in the shop. She gave an almost flawless performance and switched the characters' voices expertly. The cherry on top was her perfect timing of both the introduction and the reading. She is a senior at the University of Chicago studying English literature but she also has a strong interest in painting. She lives in Des Plaines.
      The other two winners were high school students from the Harwood Heights community that Eisenhower serves. Joanne Dynak read from Fire in the Steppe by Henryk Sienkiewicz. She describes the journey of Basia across the open land, which she says corresponds well to the Polish spirit. Her reading was passionate and although sometimes very fast, her words did not become unclear. Joanne is a junior at Ridgewood High School and she lives in Harwood Heights.
      Last but not least, Karol Kmiecik read from the Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Although he chose the typical scene of Kurtz dying and his last words "the horror, the horror," Karol gave an original and incredibly passionate rendition of the passage. Karol is a musician and shortly after reading he left to perform at a concert. He is a senior at Main South High School and lives in Harwood Heights.

Honorable Mentions About 50 people competed for 5 trips this year. Of those performances, many were incredible and the judges found it extremely difficult to choose the winners. Below are 25 honorable mentions. We highly encourage them to read next year. Please keep in mind that this year's first place winner had read twice before she won.
	Alex Elzakowski Anna Dolecki Anna Purymska Christine Bukowski Dana Peters David Kasjanski David Popowski Jessica Chrzan Johanno Wawro Katarzyna Cichonska Katarzyna Daniliszyn Kinga Magiera Konrad Gnat	Laura Simons Maya Skorupski Michal Godlewski Michal Niemiec Monika Spalinski Natalie Chreptowicz Paulina Mateja Sabina Barnak Sylvia Olak Sylvia Wolicki Veronica Lesny Wladyslaw Tylka

General thoughts of advice from the panel ...

Time your reading - read no less and no more than 4 minutes. Many of these readers were disqualified because they read for less than 2 minutes or for more than 5 minutes.
Read slowly and clearly. Take your time.
Look up at the jury at moments. This both helps you see how the judges are reacting to your reading and enhances your reading.
Be expressive with your voice and face. Connect with the reading.

Thanks and good luck next year!!!

	From left to right: Kinga Kosmala, VIP Judge Aleks Sierakowski, LLVC Ron Stoch, EPL Director Joanna Tucholska, LL Author Alicja Kukulka, LLVC Nancy Barry Moore, VIP Judge Patrica Radkowski, LLVC

EISENHOWER PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT