After months of public hearings, Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library revealed July 18 the names of the five branches that will permanently shut their doors on September 1. Carla D. Hayden announced that the Dundalk, Fells Point, Gardenville, Hollins-Payson, and Pimlico libraries will have to close in order to offset “years of budget reductions and inadequate funding” from the city, the July 19 Baltimore Sun reported.
No jobs would be lost, Hayden said, but she added that the library system might have to close six more branches if city funding continues to dwindle.
Mayor Martin O’Malley supported the decision, stating that the library’s “mission is not served by spending millions of dollars to repair decrepit libraries,” but by building “a better system with a brighter future.” He said that he is committed to keeping the buildings open for community use and that school libraries in the affected areas would receive a total of 150,000 books to help offset the loss.
Hayden told the Sun the next day that she had no other choice than closing the libraries. “I am a career librarian. It hurts. People say they’ve cried over this. I’ve cried, too.” She spoke enthusiastically about a $46-million restoration and expansion for the central library as well as a new $8-million facility in Highlandtown in 2003.
Posted July 23, 2001.