HISTORY™ Announces Winners of the Library Outreach Contest Offered as Part of Its Largest Educational Initiative Connected to the Series AMERICA THE STORY OF US

NEW YORK, July 12 /PRNewswire/ -- HISTORY™ today announced the winners of a special contest for libraries connected with its landmark 12-part series AMERICA THE STORY OF US. The series, which premiered on April 25th and concluded on Memorial Day, was accompanied by the largest education outreach effort in the network's history.  Organized with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, the Library Outreach Contest encouraged libraries large and small to create themed exhibits, media projects, and public programming about the role their community played in the broader national story. Open to all libraries nationwide, the contest awarded a total of $35,000 in prizes to 13 libraries. The Grand Prize winner in the contest is awarded $15,000 along with two First Prize winners who are awarded $5,000 each and ten Second Prizes winners who are awarded $1,000 each.

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The winners of the Library Outreach Contest included libraries from Maine to Alaska, with topics ranging from local maritime history to regional dimensions of the Civil War. The Grand Prize Winner is Lower Macungie Library in Macungie, Pennsylvania, for an exhibit entitled Six Days in April, Forty Years Ago: The Story of Apollo 13. This exhibit analyzed the dramatic story of Apollo 13 and other Apollo missions from many angles, highlighting individual reactions to these human endeavors into space. The libraries receiving First Prizes are the Saratoga Springs Public Library in Saratoga Springs, New York for their exhibit Honoring Saratoga Veterans and the Erie Community Library of Erie, Colorado for a project entitled Erie: From Working Coal Town to Suburban Boom Town.

The Library Outreach Contest was a combined effort between HISTORY, the IMLS, and the PCAH to engage libraries to join a national exploration of the American past. "AMERICA THE STORY OF US provided a perfect catalyst for communities all over America to join in ramping up the conversation about the history of our country," said Dr. Libby O'Connell, Chief Historian and SVP, Corporate Outreach for HISTORY. "Local libraries brought their grassroots focus to highlight the compelling stories in their collections and in their backyards."

The Second Prize winners of the contest included the Haines Borough Public Library in Haines, Alaska for their project on the history of the local Tlingit tribe, the Illinois State Library for an exhibit entitled Writing Women Back into History and the Marian Wright Edelman Public Library in Marlboro County, South Carolina for an exhibit entitled Then and Now. "These winners are a testament to the power of libraries to connect communities to the American story," said Marsha L. Semmel, Acting Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. "The rich diversity of the projects is impressive.   And we are particularly delighted to see so many small libraries answer this call in a big way.  Congratulations to all."

The library contest criteria included the relevance of the exhibit to American history, the effectiveness of the exhibit or media project overall, and outreach about the projects to local communities.

The Library Outreach Contest was part of the most ambitious, wide-ranging educational initiative HISTORY™ has ever organized. The outreach campaign for AMERICA THE STORY OF US also included a student video and a lesson plan contest for teachers to highlight best practices in teaching U.S. history.  In conjunction with the broadcast, HISTORY offered, for the first time, a DVD of the entire 12-hour series to every single school in America including all accredited colleges – free of charge.  Other events included a live webcast with the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. in which thousands of schools nationwide participated in a conversation about innovation and invention in American history. A wealth of additional curriculum resources related to AMERICA THE STORY OF US is available online at www.history.com/classroom.

HISTORY™ and HISTORY HD™ are the leading destinations for revealing, award-winning original non-fiction series and event-driven specials that connect history with viewers in an informative, immersive and entertaining manner across multiple platforms. Programming covers a diverse variety of historical genres ranging from military history to contemporary history, technology to natural history, as well as science, archaeology and pop culture. Among the network's program offerings are hit series such as Ax Men, Battle 360, How The Earth Was Made, Ice Road Truckers, Pawn Stars and The Universe, as well as acclaimed specials including 102 Minutes That Changed America, 1968 with Tom Brokaw, King, Life After People, Nostradamus: 2012, Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed and WWII in HD. HISTORY has earned four Peabody Awards, seven Primetime Emmy® Awards, 12 News & Documentary Emmy® Awards and received the prestigious Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network's Save Our History® campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. Take a Veteran to School Day is the network's latest initiative connecting America's schools and communities with veterans from all wars. The HISTORY web site, located at www.history.com, is the definitive historical online source that delivers entertaining and informative content featuring broadband video, interactive timelines, maps, games and more.

SOURCE HISTORY(TM)