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By Jennifer Broadwater, The Baltimore Sun Media Group | October 3, 2013
"Growing up, I would play librarian,” says Mary Hastler. “I would line my stuffed animals up, and they would check out books.” So maybe it's no surprise that during Hastler's first career in health-care administration, she began volunteering with Bel Air Friends of the Library, helping organize fundraisers. Soon enough, she was working nine hours a week at the library, which snowballed into a new career. In 2010, she became director of the Harford County Public Library. Hastler's mission is to reinvent the library continually to maintain its relevance to the public.
EXPLORE
April 29, 2013
Little Leapers was unveiled to an excited crowd of children and caregivers along with program sponsors and library staff on March 27 at the Bel Air library. More than 80 people were in attendance, including 30 children, to see the new kits and have the opportunity to participate in several experiments put on by local scientists. Little Leapers is Harford County Public Library's newest early literacy initiative which consists of pre- and early-literacy kits that focus on fostering and developing pre- and early literacy skills through STEM (science, technology, engineering and math)
NEWS
Aegis report | March 24, 2013
The Harford County Public Library system has announced the launch of its newest early literacy initiative, Little Leapers, pre- and early-literacy kits that focus on fostering and developing pre- and early literacy skills through STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) topics. Targeted for children up to 5 years, the kits will be unveiled at the Bel Air Library on March 27. "Little Leapers will aid with reading readiness, preparing our county's children for school and introducing STEM at an early age to nurture life-long interest," Mary Hastler, library director, said in a press release.
EXPLORE
October 29, 2012
Renowned for unique auction items at its annual Gala, the Harford County Public Library Foundation recently added a catered lunch for six with New York Times bestselling author Jeff Shaara to its live auction. The auction will take place at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, at the Abingdon Library during the Library's Gala, Once Upon a Time - an Evening in the Stacks. Shaara has written 11 historical war novels that have made the New York Times bestseller list and will also be the feature author for the Foundation's annual Night Out @ the Library on April 19, 2013.
NEWS
By Joe Burris and Joe Burris,joseph.burris@baltsun.com | July 10, 2009
Summer can be a young mind's enemy. Not only are kids discouraged from tackling new concepts during lazy days of pool time and backyard play, but the long break from school, if not reinforced with summer learning, erodes knowledge gained from the previous school year. The Boston-based Family Education Network says that summer can be a "brain drain." It points to a University of Missouri study suggesting that when kids return to school after summer vacation, they've lost one month to three months of learning.
NEWS
By Mary Gail Hare and Mary Gail Hare,mary.gail.hare@baltsun.com | July 8, 2009
Dressed in purple T-shirts printed with "Express yourself," 11-year-old Victoria Oji and her sister Mercy, 13, manned a desk in the children's area of the White Marsh library. They helped children fill out applications for the library's popular reading program, suggested reading-related activities and demonstrated craft projects. "I like helping other kids be creative about reading," said Mercy, sporting a pipe-cleaner headband she had made. The sisters, who volunteer at their neighborhood library about four hours a week, are among more than 500 middle- and high-school students helping to make the annual Summer Reading Program at the Baltimore County Public Library a success.