Harford County Public Library

Nearly 300 people visited the Bel Air Reckord Armory May 4 to explore the 4th Annual Celebration of Cultures, sponsored by the Harford County Human Relations Commission in partnership with LASOS Inc. (Linking All So Other Succeed), the Town of Bel Air and the Harford County Cultural Arts Board. The Celebration was a family-friendly event designed to highlight the many cultures within Harford County. Several attendees said it was a wonderful event and a great opportunity for community members to learn from and about the community's proud heritages.

Enthusiastic crews from BB&T's Madonna and Upper Crossroads branches worked tirelessly July 25 to plant new gardens at both the Jarrettsville and Fallston libraries as part of their annual Lighthouse Project. BB&T's Lighthouse Project encourages employees to get outside of the office and give back, improving the communities they serve and making them better places to work and live. According to their website, during the first three years of BB&T's Lighthouse Project, employees nationwide have donated more than 150,000 volunteer hours to local charities and touched the lives of more than 5 million people in 25 states.

Harford County government employees collected more than three tons of food during a one-week drive to aid Harvest for the Hungry, which concluded Friday. In all, 6,200 pounds of non-perishable food were collected during the drive that began March 1 to coincide with the start of the annual campaign to replenish area food banks, including one run locally by the nonprofit Harford Community Action Agency. As in past years, the county departments competed among each other to see which one could collect the most food.

Restoring Sunday hours at three branches of the Harford County Public Library is a good thing. The three branches that are most likely to be reopening are Abingdon, Bel Air and one in the Route 40 corridor, according to Mary Hastler, the library director, in comments she made at last Thursday's meeting of the library board. Opening those branches makes the most sense. Abingdon and Bel Air are busy and serve the county's population center and one in the Route 40 corridor would be more convenient for those in the eastern part of Harford County.

Stories of one of the country's most contentious debates over slavery and westward expansion and the Underground Railroad filled the Bel Air library June 23. With more than 50 in attendance, Fergus Bordewich, author of "America's Great Debate," spoke about the about the epic story of the Compromise of 1850, bringing to life during his animated discussion the colorful characters like Daniel Webster and John Colhoon and their stances. Stories included those not found in history books about the longest debate in Congressional history - like the fights that broke out on the Senate floor; the extraordinary political strategies that were at work during this turbulent time in our history; and the untold heroes of the Underground Railroad.

Mary Beth Crisco, a retired Harford County librarian who led the computerization of her agency, died of lung cancer Wednesday at the Upper Chesapeake Medical Center. She was 74 and lived in Bel Air. Born Mary Beth Harmeyer in Joppa, she was a 1955 graduate of Bel Air High School, where she was a four-sport athlete. She received an associate's degree from Towson University and a bachelor of science in general studies and a master's degree in library science from the University of Maryland, College Park.

As an educator, certified Maryland public librarian and member of the Harford County community, I am disappointed and embarrassed by the Harford County Public Library's decision to censor the "50 Shades of Grey" series by E. L. James ("Too hot for Harford, librarian concludes," May 31). County library director Mary Hastler has denied censoring the book. However, by the American Library Association's own definition, censorship is "the suppression of ideas and information that certain persons - individuals, groups or government officials - find objectionable or dangerous.

Three of the most popular books in America are being kept off the shelves of the Harford County Public Library system because administrators consider them to be pornographic. British author E.L. James' erotic trilogy about a steamy affair between an innocent literature student and an entrepreneur with dangerous desires has topped the list of Amazon.com's best-selling books. Ditto for the New York Times' best-selling fiction list. Every other library system in Central Maryland owns copies of "Fifty Shades of Grey" and its two sequels, and maintains waiting lists of hundreds of eager readers who want to check them out. Harford County's reluctance to purchase the novels in the face of overwhelming public demand and accusations of censorship places it in among an embattled minority of libraries nationwide.

Harford County, get ready for another demonstration of Power to the Purple! Bel Air's super Purple Pride Ravens Rally is coming up Friday from noon to 2 p.m. in the county government's parking lot at the corner of South Main Street and Churchville Road. The Purple Pride Ravens Rally is co-sponsored by the Harford County government, Harford County Public Schools, Harford County Public Library, Harford County Chamber of Commerce, Town of Bel Air and the Bel Air Downtown Alliance.