Upload
johnswab
View
215
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
7/28/2019 My Letter to County Executive David Craig
1/4
David R. Craig,
County Executive
Harford County Government
220 South Main StreetBel Air, MD 21014
February 25
th
, 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have begun to replace DVDs; books on CDs have been replaced by Playways (prerecorded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
7/28/2019 My Letter to County Executive David Craig
2/4
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 ofThe Baltimore Sun. Without the librarys support ofboth 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
7/28/2019 My Letter to County Executive David Craig
3/4
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
7/28/2019 My Letter to County Executive David Craig
4/4
220 S. MAINSTREETBELAIR, MD21014
DAVID R. CRAIGH A R F O R D C O U N T Y E X E C U T IV E
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 PublicLibrary system and budget. All the items which you mentioned are important to many differentcitizens. While I will probably not be able to increase theboard's budget I will do all that I canto refrain from reducing it.Thank:you also for serving on the Library Board of Trustees. Please feel free to contactme to comment on any issue of interest to you.
Cordially,
~~~Harford County Executive
DRC/lap
~ Preserving Harford's past; promoting Hai ford's future ~410 .6 3 8 .3 3 5 0 410 .8 7 9 .2 0 38 F A X : 41 0 .6 3 8 .1 3 87 T rY 410 .6 3 8 .3 0 86 www .ha r f o r dc oun t ymd . go v
T H IS D OC U M E N T IS A VA IL A BL E IN A LT ER NA TIV E F O R M A T U P O N R E Q U E ST .
http://www.harfordcountymd.gov/http://www.harfordcountymd.gov/