KU Libraries accepting student entries to 2023 Snyder Book Collecting Contest


KU Libraries announces an open call for entries to its annual Snyder Book Collecting contest, which awards KU undergraduate and graduate students for their collections of books, digital items, graphic novels, music, and film that share a particular subject, topic, or theme.  

Bibliographies and essays should be submitted via the contest entry form by 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2023. Entry packets will be used for preliminary judging to determine finalists. Awards will be offered in both graduate and undergraduate divisions: First Prize: $600, Second Prize: $400, and Honorable Mention: $100. Each winner will also receive a gift card from contest co-sponsor Jayhawk Ink, a division of KU Bookstore. The first-place winners in each division are eligible to compete in the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest, which awards a top prize of $2,500. 

The awards ceremony will be held Thursday, April 18, 4:30 p.m. in Watson Library, Third Floor West.

“The Snyder Book Collecting contest is a great KU tradition that continues to recognize and reward students and collecting,” said KU Libraries’ Interim Co-Dean Beth Whittaker. “So much of how we read today is mobile and ephemeral, it’s especially valuable to recognize the care and effort that KU students take with their collections, from the way they build them to the way they store them to the way they write about them in their essays. Being part of the Snyder contest is really a professional highlight every year. I look forward to always learning something new from passionate student collectors, and I’m proud that KU Libraries continues to be part of it.” 

The Snyder Book Collecting Contest began in 1956, when Robert Vosper, then Director of KU Libraries, wanted to encourage young people to collect books. His effort influenced donor Elizabeth Morrison Snyder of Kansas City to offer her enduring financial support for the contest. This 65-year tradition returns following a hiatus in 2020 and 2021, due to the pandemic.  

More information about the Snyder Book Collecting Contest can be found online here