David R.

Craig, County Executive Harford County Government 220 South Main Street Bel Air, MD 21014 February 25th, 2013 Dear Mr. Craig,

I've lived in 3 decades, 2 centuries & 2 millenniums and I'm not even 18 yet.

One day, I came across this quotation on Facebook. I saw it, paused, and thought to myself about the significance of it. This quotation highlights some of the experiences that my generation of youth has gone through. While many of us have yet to celebrate out eighteenth birthday, we have seen changes in the world that few could have imagined possiblethe emergence of the internet, cell phones, social media, and an increasingly global and more competitive economy. It is for this reason that I write to you today to encourage you to maintain or increase the funding the Harford County Public Library system because now is the time for the library to begin its next chapter.

The library has always been a central part of my life. As a child, some of my fondest memories of summer involve reading outside and the thrill of being the first in line to sign up for the librarys Summer Reading Program. But as I grew older, I remember my family coming home with items other than booksCDs, DVDs, and even video games. This was part of my life as a child. Even for todays children the types of materials have begun to change. Blu-rays have begun to replace DVDs; books on CDs have been replaced by Playways (prerecorded audio books); and the library has begun to offer eBooks, eMagazines, and an online music

download service (Freegal). A teen a decade from now will, in all likelihood, be much more connected the electronic forms of media than those of today. This is of the utmost importance as in order to stay relevant to teens, the library must continue to best meet their needs.

As the Student Representative to the Harford County Public Library Board of Trustees, I strongly feel that this is an area of the highest importance for the public library system to address. Throughout this past year, I have seen the excellent work that the library administration has been doing in terms of bringing the library beyond the printed word, into the world of electronic and digital media. The library still continues to fulfill its mission of providing access to physical materials as well. I have had personal, first hand experience in both of these areas.

As a member of the International Baccalaureate Program at Edgewood High School, I was required to research and write a four thousand word research paper. My self-chosen topic of historical geography was focused on the suburbanization of Baltimore County from the years 1890 to 1950. This time period required me to not only to have access to college-level resources but also to primary resources from the time period. I was able to obtain both of these resources from the public librarythe college-level resources came from the library at Harford Community College (being ordered through the HCPL system), and the primary sources came from the librarys archive of The Baltimore Sun. Without the librarys support of both print and electronic media I would have been unable to complete my research.

In the time of partisan politics, fiscal cliffs, and an overall uneasiness over the state of America; it is easy to see why public services like the library can be often pushed to the side and

forced to reduce their budget. However, it is times like these when the youth truly need the public library system more than ever. Last year our very own Harford County Public Schools cut the budget of library services to give teachers and administrators a pay raise. It is imperative that the public librarys funding be maintained or increased for both the students of Harford County and for its citizens to ensure the best access to materials and services as often as possible.

Being both the Student Representative and a concerned citizen, I strongly believe that the funding to the public library system should be maintained or increased for the upcoming fiscal year. Changing forms of communication and an expanding usage of the library system continue to challenge Harford County Public Librarys, and I strongly believe that theythe library administration, staff and Board of Trusteesare doing everything in their power to ensure that not only the citizens of Harford Country, but the students as well have the best library system in the state of Maryland. Additional funding will help make these efforts and their effects even more evident in Harford County.

Respectfully,

John Swab Student Representative to the Harford County Public Library Board of Trustees, FY 12-13

DAVID R. CRAIG
HARFORD COUNTY EXECUTIVE

220 S. MAIN STREET BEL AIR, MD 21014

OFFICE OF THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

March 12,2013

John Swab

Dear Mr. Swab, Thank you for the very nice letter expressing your support for the Harford County Public Library system and budget. All the items which you mentioned are important to many different citizens. While I will probably not be able to increase the board's budget I will do all that I can to refrain from reducing it. Thank: you also for serving on the Library Board of Trustees. Please feel free to contact me to comment on any issue of interest to you.

Cordially,

~~~

Harford County Executive

DRC/lap

Preserving Harford's past; promoting Haiford's future ~

410.879.2038 FAX: 410.638.1387 TrY 410.638.3086 www.harfordcountymd.gov
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