Schuylkill County commissioners on Wednesday lauded the winners of the annual phone book collection contest.

The contest, sponsored by the county office of Solid Waste and Recycling and Schuylkill Keep It Pretty, gathers old phone books to recycle. Office coordinator Joseph Scribbick presented the winners with certificates and checks.The top winner was Brooke Williams, a fourth-grade student at Tamaqua Elementary School. She won $125 for collecting 2,621 books. Brooke, the daughter of Beth Chickilly and stepfather Justin Chickilly, thanked her parents."The only reason I got all the phone books was because of my parents because they helped me to get all of them, and I couldn't thank them more," she said.Second-place winner was Austin Haverstick, a first-grade student at John S. Clarke Elementary School, Pottsville. He won $100 for collecting 891 books.Third-place winner was Alexis Buchala, a third-grade student at Tamaqua Elementary. She won $75 for collecting 367 books.