Bermuda National Library staff put their creativity on show to win this year’s Christmas Window Competition.

The display combined a love of words and books with Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet, which has become synonymous with the Christmas period.

This year’s event, sponsored by electricity supplier Belco and the Corporation of Hamilton, saw a record 24 entrants.

The library was chosen by a panel of expert judges for the Best Window award, and also earned the People’s Choice title after gaining the most votes from almost 1,500 members of the public.

It won a $1,000 Belco gift certificate, a $500 Masters gift certificate and a $1,500 donation to the charity of it’s choice — the Friends of the Library.

Presenting the prizes to library director Joanne Brangman, Charles Gosling, the city’s mayor, said the Queen Street location might have put the library at a slight disadvantage because “people really have to go out of their way to to see your work — that speaks highly for the work that’s been done”.

He added: “The winner of the People’s Choice award happens to be the same organisation, so congratulations.

“The library is a tremendous resource for all Bermudians.”

This year was the first time that the library had entered the competition.

Nikki Bowers, a circulation librarian, said: “We believe that books are magic and they contain wonder and an access to a new world and new experiences, so we wanted something that captured that and at the same time said Christmas and holiday sparkle.

“Everything here is handmade except for the doll. Everything was intentional.

“We’re not graphic artists, we’re library staff and we’re book lovers but wanted to connect with our community during the holiday, so thank you to everyone who voted for us.”