Congratulations to Edmond Pang! Edmond was recognized at the Library Shop SD’s sixth annual Shorties Awards Gala for his winning story titled “Grandmother.”
Pang Ho-cheung’s winning short story will be printed in a limited-edition matchbook and displayed inside the Hervey Family Rare Book Room on the ninth floor of the San Diego Central Library at Joan Λ Irwin Jacobs Common starting in January 2026. He will also receive a $50 Library Shop SD gift card and 50 matchbooks printed with his story.
In 2025, the Library Shop received over 250 entries, generating thousands in participation fees. Thanks to Library Foundation SD Trustee Judith Wenker’s triple match gift, more than $5,000 benefited the San Diego Public Library system.
The limited-edition matchbooks with the winning story will be available for purchase in January at both Library Shop SD locations — in the Central Library in San Diego’s East Village and at the newly opened location at 925 W. Washington Street in the Mission Hills neighborhood. All proceeds support the San Diego Public Library System.
About the Matchbook Story Contest:
The Library Shop’s annual Matchbook Story Contest started as an oddball challenge to fit a short story inside a book of matches and has grown into one of the Library Shop’s most popular programs and library patrons and Shop customers have collected each year’s limited-edition matchbook. Every year, the winner receives a $50 Library Shop gift card, and their story is printed on 2,000 matchbooks available for purchase at the Library Shop, published in the Library Connections e‑newsletter, and installed as part of the Tiny Book Display in the Hervey Family Rare Book Room at the San Diego Central Library.
