Hubbard Free Library card design competition submission by eighth grader Phillip Walton. Voting begins Friday on three newly selected finalist designs submitted by local artists for a special edition 2025 Hubbard Free Library card. Hallowell residents can vote for their favorite design through November at the Hubbard Free Library on Second Street. The library hopes to announce the winner in December. Courtesy of Friends of the Hubbard Free Library

HALLOWELL — Voting begins Friday on three newly selected finalist designs submitted by local artists for a special edition 2025 Hubbard Free Library card.

Hallowell residents can stop in at the Hubbard Free Library on Second Street to vote on the designs during November. The library hopes to announce the winner in December and hold a small ceremony.

Voters can choose between the three finalist designs. Two were submitted by students at the K-8 Stepping Stones Montessori School in Chelsea — fourth grader Florence Ayotte and eighth grader Phillip Walton — through their art teacher, Tandy Boynton. The third was submitted by Ava Katz, a Hallowell native. The winner will receive a certificate, a Hubbard T-shirt and a gift card.

Hubbard Free Library card design contest submission by Ava Katz. Voting begins Friday on three newly selected finalist designs submitted by local artists for a special edition 2025 Hubbard Free Library card. Hallowell residents can vote for their favorite design through November at the Hubbard Free Library on Second Street. The library hopes to announce the winner in December. Courtesy of Friends of the Hubbard Free Library

The competition began in September, when the Friends of the Hubbard Free Library — the volunteer fundraising group spearheading the competition — accepted 21 submissions, most of which came from Boynton’s students. The group’s board of trustees met later that month to choose the three finalists.

Boynton said she heard about the competition through one of her students’ parents. She had done competitions before with her students, and decided she would turn this opportunity into an art assignment for her class.

“The younger kids, especially kindergarten through first, second grade, they will kind of dash something off for you usually, and you have to get them to invest a little more time and effort sometimes to really do their best work,” Boynton said. “But once they get to third grade and up, they all get very excited about the prospect of doing a contest and most of them will at least make something for it, if not submit.”

In all, Boynton’s students made up 15 of the competition’s 21 submissions. And when the finalists were announced, she said, other students and teachers hugged and congratulated Florence and Phillip.

This year is the competition’s first, and Cam Dufty, a member of the Friends’ board of trustees, said she hopes there will be enough enthusiasm to justify repeating the process next fall.

“This came about as a way to do something fun with the community,” Dufty said. “Hallowell especially has a great sense of community overall, and a wonderful artistic presence, both in professionals and on down through everyone.”

Library-goers who already have a card can choose to switch to the new design next year for $1. New members will be able to choose between the new design and the basic one.

The competition itself is not a big money-maker and the library has already budgeted for new cards, anyway, Dufty said. Instead, it’s a way to get people involved in library activities and in the habit of using its services.

Katz, one of the finalists, grew up going to the library and has created public art around Hallowell, including a mural outside Slates Bakery. She said she saw the competition posted online and knew she had to enter a submission — and she ended up entering two.

Hubbard Free Library card design competition submission by fourth grader Florence Ayotte. Voting begins Friday on three newly selected finalist designs submitted by local artists for a special edition 2025 Hubbard Free Library card. Hallowell residents can vote for their favorite design through November at the Hubbard Free Library on Second Street. The library hopes to announce the winner in December. Courtesy of Friends of the Hubbard Free Library

Her design shows the Hubbard Free Library on a green and blue background. Katz painted the building, then edited the rest of the design around the library digitally.

Now a design student at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, Katz said she enjoys giving her talents to her hometown, even if a library card is just a small part of Hallowell residents’ experience.

Plus, she said, it was good practice for her coursework.

“I know every inch of that space and the surrounding area — the librarians and the books,” Katz said. “It would be special.”