Help Make Sure Our Children Count by Entering BPL’s My First Census 2020 Photo Contest

By Jim Murray | Business, Science and Technology Department, Central Library

As all parents know, children need our love, support, and nurturing to help them reach their potential. These factors can certainly be expressed to children through personal interaction, but they can also be conveyed by social interaction within the community. If we are concerned about positively shaping the future for our children, then we all must be mindful of what we can do to enhance the quality of these interactions by improving our community’s economic and educational opportunities. One impactful action that we can all take right now is to encourage everyone we know to complete the 2020 Census questionnaire. When doing so, however, it is especially important to encourage those residents who have children living with them to make sure that they include these children in the questionnaire. The purpose of the decennial Census is to obtain a complete and accurate count of the entire population and that includes everyone no matter how young they are, even babies and newborns.

It may come as a surprise, but did you know that children are consistently undercounted in the decennial Census? Furthermore, did you know that, by undercounting children, we deprive them and their families of the economic and educational resources needed to help them lead prosperous lives? It’s true. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over 2 million children under the age of five were not included in the 2010 Census. In Alabama, over 17,000 young children were not counted in 2010. This undercount translated into an annual loss of $13 million in federal funds for our state that would have been allocated to programs that directly benefit children and their families, including food stamps, the National School Lunch Program, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

The Birmingham Public Library’s Birmingham Counts! 2020 Census campaign wants to bring attention to this issue of undercounting children by promoting the My First Census Photo Contest. By entering the contest, you will not only be celebrating your child’s first Census, you will also be doing your part to support a complete count of all our residents of Birmingham. Oh, and one other thing, when you enter the contest, you will qualify to win the grand prize: a brand new Apple iPad! Here is how the contest works:

• Families submit photos of their child to Birmingham Counts! using the hashtag #iCountBHM20. The photo should depict why the 2020 Census is important to you.
• Children included in the photo must be between the ages of 0 and 10.
• Photos should be submitted to the myfirstcensus@cobpl.org email address.
• The contest will run through Sunday, July 26, 2020.
• One entry will be selected for the grand prize, a new Apple iPad.
• The winning entry will be announced on Facebook Live @ Birmingham Public Library on Monday July 27, 2020, at 3:00 p.m.

Get out your camera and show everyone why the 2020 Census is important to you and your children. In doing so, you will be documenting a milestone in your child’s life and making sure that Birmingham Counts!