Dioramas to vie for 'Peeple's Choice'

Local librarians are inviting local peeps to make some art with colorful marshmallow critters.

The Yuma County Library District is planning a Peeps in Literature Diorama Contest this month in celebration of National Library Week, April 11-17.

The library district wants contestants to use marshmallow Peeps, which come in the shapes of bunnies and chicks, to portray the characters from famous scenes related to reading, such as a favorite book, a scene from a book, a famous painting or photograph or something read in a magazine or newspaper.

"It could be anything that a person has ever found in literature," said Mimi Duncan, information services employee for the library district. Duncan added that she was inspired to create the event by a similar contest that was covered by the Washington Post.

"It was hysterically funny, and some of them were very sophisticated, so I thought we could do it at the library here and connect it to literature."

The dioramas are to be housed in a standard shoebox or other container no more than 12 inches deep, 24 inches wide and 18 inches high. Categories include adult, teen, juvenile and family. Anyone can enter once in an individual category and again as part of a family entry.

To enter the contest, contestants need to fill out and submit a form to the new Main Library, 2951 S. 21st Drive. The forms are available online at www.yumalibrary.org or at the Main Library.

Submitted forms need to include the name of the character, book, magazine or newspaper article that inspired the diorama. In the case of a periodical, entrants need to indicate the date or issue and page number. If possible, entries should include a photocopy of the original document.

The name of the diorama should be written on the display, but not the name of the submitting contestant, as to retain anonymity during judging.

"We want people to incorporate the word Peeps into the name to change the original title a little bit," Duncan said. "For example, 'Where the Wild Things Are' becomes 'Where the Wild Peeps Are' and 'Mary Poppins' becomes 'Mary Peepins.'"

Duncan said she has already designed and built an original diorama  on display at the library.

"I thought this would be fun, so I made my peep last weekend and it is called 'Gladys Knight and the Peeps.' I spent the entire weekend making clothes for the Peeps."

The finished dioramas need to be submitted to the library between 9 a.m and 8 p.m. April 14.

Peeps open house and judging will take place at the library from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 16 and 17. During those hours, library patrons can vote for their favorite diorama in the Peeple’s Choice Awards.

Entries will be judged on originality and overall quality. All entries in each category will be judged by a panel, and prizes will be awarded in each of the four categories. Winners will be announced April 17.

For more information, log on to www.yumalibrary.org or call 314-2452.