Written by BriAnne Baxley, Young Adult Librarian

Besides reading this summer, teens were engaged with the option to participate in the teen photography contest. Ten teens entered into the contest with a total of 21 photographs to be considered. Judges included Jerry Baxley from Berkeley County Veterans Affair (3rd-year judge), Rebecca Antill from the South Carolina State Library (1st-year judge), and David Barton from Creekside Church (1st-year judge). These judges may not have a photography background but are “Building a Better World” through their engagement in their communities which was the theme for this year’s contest. The judges gave point values to each photograph and the one with the most won.

First Place: Beth W with her submission entitled, “A New Life” in which she describes as ” This is my mom’s college graduation. After not finishing high school, leaving home at 16 and getting her GED, she went back to school and got her diploma in medical billing and coding. My dad and I were, and still are, very proud of how hard she worked.”

Second Place: Esther F who describes her photo as “I built my own “Better World” out of resources you can find in the library. I used 68 books (47 were fiction; 21 were nonfiction), 3 CDs, 3 DVDs, and 3 magazines.” 

Third Place: Hannah F who writes, ” This is my little brother, Danny…  He is two and a half years old, and he loves to play with tools and pretend he’s a construction worker.”