As part of National Library Week, the Palmerton Area Library held its annual Bookmark Contest open to all preschool and elementary students in the area.

The winners were chosen for originality and best library promotion. Three winners were chosen in each of three age levels. Preschool and kindergarten winners were as follows: 1st -Jayen Gursky (Parkside), 2nd - Clair Frank (Parkside), and 3rd - Shen Denardo (Peters).Winners in grades 1-3 were as follows: 1st - Yesmine Olewine (Towamensing), 2nd - Thomas Quintero (Parkside), 3rd -Sebastian Hunsicker (Towamensing).Winners in grades 4-6 were as follows: 1st - Kelsi Blichar (SS Palmer), 2nd-Alyssa Olewine (Towamensing), and 3rd-Danielle Stetler (Towamensing).Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to all the students who shared their art work and creative ideas on their entries.The winning bookmark designs have been made into bookmarks which are available at the checkout desk at the Palmerton Area Library. Each winner also received a book and a gift certificate for the basement book sale at the library.The newly organized "Homework Helpers" program at the library will continue through the end of May. Students who need a little extra help with math, spelling words, reading, special projects, etc. may come to the library Wednesdays after school until 4:30 p.m. Volunteer tutors (teachers, retired teachers and high school students) will work with the students on a one-to-one basis. This program is free for the students but parents should register their students by calling the library at 610-826-3424 and students must bring their own assignments to work on. Anyone interested in volunteering as a tutor should also call the library and ask for Mariann.The library is currently conducting its Annual Fund Drive. In the past two years, library funding from the state has been cut by 30 percent so local support is extremely important at this time. If the library cannot maintain $5 per capita in local funding it may have to cut hours and curtail programs for the coming year. Last year local municipalities and the school district contributed $2 per capita and local donations made up the rest.The Palmerton Area Library is open Monday and Tuesday from 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Six computers are available for the public as well as fax and color copy service.The library has hundreds of DVD's available for a two-week check out period. Check the website at

www.palmertonarealibrary.com for the newest books and DVD's.