Our nation’s public libraries have always served as resources to the communities in which they are located. In Baltimore City, where many do not have access to broadband Internet or the economic resources necessary to pursue all their goals, the Enoch Pratt Free Library helps fill the void by providing programs that facilitate everything from home ownership to entrepreneurship, underscoring the importance of the health of our public libraries.
Carla Hayden, CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library system, said one of the ways in which the Pratt libraries serve as a personal and community development resource is by assisting Baltimore residents in the search for employment, especially for the 30 percent of Baltimore residents who she says are without regular Internet access.
“We have a job and career center at the central library and then we have special sections in each of the branches devoted to job and career activities,” said Hayden in an interview with the AFRO. “So we have workshops on how to do a résumé, how to interview for a job, we have materials on career planning and looking at—just every aspect of getting a job. We also provide job listings and postings as well as all the electronic resources so people can get online and look up things and learn what is happening.”
In addition to preparing residents for the interview process and assisting them with access to online job applications, the library also offers seminars and information for first time home-buyers as well as persons looking to start a business or non-profit. By taking advantage of the library’s business center, potential entrepreneurs can access statistics on demographics and spending habits, as well as learn how to write business plans.
Such services, because they are free, are an important community development resource, allowing persons who could not afford to pay for such information defray many of the expenses generally associated with things like starting a business.
Roswell Encina, communications director for the library, noted how important the library’s resources are, particularly during economic downturns.
“When the economy was not doing that well, that’s when more people were going back to the library because that’s when they were remembering that everything is free,” said Encina. “But at the same time, some local governments were cutting the budget of public libraries so you can see the irony there . . . So that said, we work hard every year to work with the folks at City Hall to make sure that services and our collection doesn’t get changed or impacted.”
Public libraries are also involved in broader social debates, such as the lack of diversity in publishing. This is a particularly pressing issue for a library like Pratt, located in a city that is over 60 percent African-American.
“We are very concerned about the need for more materials reflecting different cultures and positions in books for young people and also teenagers,” said Hayden, adding later, “We work very hard to work with publishers and other people—educators, librarians—to encourage more materials being published to give young people a sense of themselves but also the larger world as well.”
The Pratt system has 22 branches throughout Baltimore, including the central library, according to Encina. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and accepts donations, for anyone who feels that they would like to contribute to the system’s continuing mission to serve as a free development resource for the residents of Baltimore City.
