Fiction to Fashion

About the Program

Category: Libraries (Best in Category)

Year: 2018

Fiction to Fashion is New Hanover County Public Library’s (NHCPL) annual fashion design contest for teens in which young designers create an outfit using unconventional materials including discarded library books, cassette tapes, and CDs. The contest was developed in 2015 and has quickly become a popular offering for this hard-to-attract age group for the library. It engages participants with local fashion professionals and allows the teens to explore future careers in fashion through a sequence of events which combines the practical with the whimsical. Through the annual Fiction to Fashion event, NHCPL has discovered and nurtured a successful, ongoing teen program which attracts uniquely creative, engaged teens, involves multiple sponsors from the local business and professional community, and speaks directly to the New Hanover County Strategic Plan focus on development of Superior Education and Workforce by giving teens the opportunity to explore fashion design and to make contacts with professionals who work directly in fashion-related fields. It engages teens and also raises the community’s awareness of the library’s varied services and programs.