Become a part of the library’s Collection

Submitting Your Print Work for Harford County Public Library's Consideration

In Print:

You may send a copy of your work for evaluation (please include reviews, author information, etc) about your book to: Local Author Submissions, Materials Management, Harford County Public Library, 1221-A Brass Mill Road, Belcamp, MD 21017. The donated copy may be added to the Local Author Shelf. Please note that review copies will not be returned. If we decide to purchase additional copies of a title we generally purchase through one of our library vendors.

Harford County is home to many writers whose work may be featured on our Local Authors Shelf at the Bel Air Branch. A single copy of a book donated by a Harford County author may be added to the Local Author Shelf if the work is not selected for purchase or added to the general collection. If you do not want your donated copy added to the Local Author shelf, please indicate this when you send the item to us for consideration.

The following criteria are followed for books to be considered for the Local Author Shelf:

• The author or illustrator is a resident of Harford County
• Adult and juvenile books are acceptable
• The item meets basic criteria in the Materials Selection Policy including appropriateness for a public collection and appropriateness of format for circulation
• The library may add donated books to the Local Author Shelf, but does not purchase titles for the Local Author Shelf.
• The book is not added to the general collection or is already part of the general library collection.

In E-Book:

If you publish your eBook through Smashwords or another digital publisher, we are able to consider your eBook for inclusion in our library collection if it is made available through the Overdrive platform. The eBook will be evaluated according to the library's Materials Selection Policy.

What You Can Expect from the Library

Through inclusion in the collection (whether in the general collection or Local Author Shelf Program) the Library assists the author's efforts to make his/her work accessible to the larger community. On occasion, further promotion may take place.
For example:

• If a work is part of the regular circulating print collection, an author may be booked for a Meet the Author program.
• An author with a specific expertise or book on a topic of specific local interest may be asked to present a program at one of our library branches;
• A branch library may include the item in a display or on a particular subject or genre list;
• Depending on the program, flyers and/or press releases may be issued;
• Information about the author or author's work may be included in the library publication Headlines and Happenings.

The Library bears no additional obligation for marketing an author's work. It is neither the role nor the responsibility of the public library to provide any of the following services for authors. Authors are fully responsible for securing these services:

• Literary agent
• Reviewer
• Proofreader
• Publisher
• Editor
• Publicist