My name is Luke and I am on the Teen Advisory Board for the Greenfield Public Library, in Greenfield, Wisconsin. I also play the piano and understand how listening to music can inspire a person to be passionate about playing an instrument. The problem is that the library has nothing for kids to listen to (unless you like Wayne Newton and Yanni) and the library is not able to buy many more new music CDs to inspire kids like me who love to listen to music but can’t afford to buy it. Until recently, Greenfield citizens were able to request music CDs from the Milwaukee Public Libraries, but Milwaukee changed their lending policy and we can no longer request their CDs. That’s bad for us because the Greenfield Library has a lousy, uninspiring, depleting music selection. Young musicians don’t have a reason to get out of their homes and visit the library to check out a CD because our library budget for buying audio-visual materials was just drastically cut by 41%. The library doesn’t have the money to buy music for the kids of Greenfield. A good collection of music CDs would attract young adults who have never been “or have not been in a long time” to the library. If new people come to check our music CDs they might also check out books. If they enjoy the CDs and books they will continue to come back to the library even when they are adults. In conclusion, not only will a special collection of music CDs attract young musicians seeking inspiration, but it will also begin a lifelong relationship between music lovers and the public library.

I have a plan to get young music lovers into the library. My project is called “Rocking the Library” and my plan is to use the Key Change Grant money to buy a special collection of music CDs for young adults. I will start with a survey and ask the kids in my 5th grade class, my brother’s 7th grade class, and the other members of the Greenfield Public Library’s Teen Advisory Board about their favorite bands and types of music. Next, I will use that information to select a collection of young adult CDs for the library. I will also ask my music teacher, the librarian, and my parents to recommend CDs from influential musicians (my mom says that’s important). I think that if we can encourage young music lovers now, we can inspire a whole new generation of musicians. If we can get kids to stop playing Guitar Hero and the air guitar, or just have a guitar to look cool and get them to start using their brains and actually play an instrument we can pull together Greenfield kids to show some real talent. The Greenfield Library’s collection is so dull now. I walked in the other day looking for CDs of bands I enjoy and couldn’t find any. I’m almost certain the same thing would happen to most young adults who visit our library. With my plan and some support from my friends and family I am certain that we can fix this. If I get the grant money to buy the new music CD collection, my brother Ben and his band “Toxic Solution” will play a free concert at one of teen library parties so that kids can have a taste of real music from kids their age. My brother is 12 years old and plays the guitar (he plays really well). I will also promote the special collection of young adult music CDs through our schools and the local Greenfield newspaper so that everyone knows about it.

The “Rocking the Library” project started as idea that me and my mom had when we had trouble finding music CDs at the Greenfield Public Library (the music collection is pretty bad). She likes to have me and my brother listen to music that she hopes will inspire us to love all kinds of music and want to play our instruments. My project is in its very early stages and requires money to be carried out. I am trying to solve that by applying for the Key Change Grant. I hope I get it because I know that I can do lots of good for our community. Besides not having the money, there are no real problems with the project that I can think of because I have talked to Emily Alford (the Youth Services Librarian) and she really likes the idea. Even though my project is in its very early stages, the kids that I have talked to about it think it’s a great idea and are getting excited about having better music at the library. If I get the money I know that my project will be a success.