Four Costa Mesa students win library essay contest

Four Costa Mesa students’ ideas will help influence the interior conceptual drawing of a new central library in Costa Mesa, according to a news release.

Out of more than 150 entries for a Costa Mesa Library Foundation-sponsored essay contest, which focused on “What I Would Like to See as Part of a New Library” and “Why Libraries Are Important,” Madeline Baldikoski, of Kaiser Elementary School, took first; Oliver Ressler, also of Kaiser Elementary, took second in the fourth-to-sixth-grade category; Sylvia Catania, of Costa Mesa Middle School, took first above Ressler; and Christopher Hutchinson, also of Costa Mesa Middle School, took second in the seventh-to-eight-grade category.

Madeline and Sylvia received $100 each, while Oliver and Christopher received $50.

Their essays, along with six others, will be handed over to an Orange Coast College architectural class, which is in the midst of drafting a design of the library and plans to incorporate some of the students’ ideas.

“It was difficult to narrow down the four winners,” foundation Vice President Barbara Steck said in the release. “They are all to be congratulated!”

The four winners’ English teachers will each receive a $75 Staples gift card.

Tom Ragan