Matchbook Story event adapts to pandemic

The San Diego Library Shop’s annual Matchbook Story contest is changing with the times — this year the entries have to fit on the surface of a face mask.

Matchbook Story, meet Maskbook Story. “Libraries have always adapted to the needs of the communities they serve, so we thought a Maskbook Story contest might help bring some brief joy to the necessary duty of wearing a mask,” said Scott Ehrig-burgess, manager of the Library Shop, which is located in the downtown Central Library and owned by the San Diego Public Library Foundation.

This is the fourth annual contest. Entries in earlier years had to fit on the inside of a matchbook cover, limiting them to about 40 to 50 words. This time they’ll have to fit on a mask. Details will be available on the Library Shop website, libraryshopsd.org/shortstory, when the contest opens Oct. 1. Entries cost $5 each and are due by Nov. 15.

The winning story will be read live on Zoom in December, Ehrig-burgess said. The story will be printed on 100 face masks, which will be sold in the Library Shop. In earlier years, the winner was printed on matchbooks, also sold at the shop.

The contest started as “an oddball challenge” and has grown into one of the Library Shop’s most popular programs, drawing hundreds of entries from around the country, as well as collectors who buy the matchbooks every year, Ehrigburgess said.

Proceeds from the entry fees and the items printed with the winning story go to support public library programs.

Last year’s winning story came from Kate Fellowes, a Michigan writer of romantic suspense novels. Called “Whodunnit?” it was a twist on a traditional mystery:

Who stole my youth? The detective I hired uncovered the truth. “They were in it together,” he said, passing me photos. Father Time showed no remorse, his face kind and gentle. Mother Nature was unrepentant. “Honestly, darling,” she said when questioned, “what did you expect?”

The winner also receives a $50 gift card to the Library Shop and has the story published in the library’s newsletter.