1948

Baltimore County Public Library System established with a Board of Trustees

First Board appointed to consolidate independent libraries at Arbutus-Halethorpe, Catonsville and its Banneker High School branch, Cockeysville, Dundalk and its Turner Station branch, Essex, Middle River, Pikesville, Relay, Sparrows Point, and Towson

1948 Board of Library Trustees Minutes.
Annual Report 1948

1948 October

Administrative Offices

Opens in temporary quarters at 120 West Pennsylvania Avenue, Towson

BCPL Archives

1949 January

Richard D. Minnich becomes first county librarian to direct the system

Mister Minnich was previously director of the Easton, Pennsylvania library since 1938.

Evening Sun October 1948

1949 February

Arbutus-Halethorpe Library

Moves to 5303 East Drive, second floor, from the basement of Klein's Hardware store at 5417 East Drive, and triples in size

Union News, February 13, 1948

1949 December

Cockeysville Free Library moves

Annual Report, 1950

1949-1950

Central ordering and cataloging begins

Results in weekly delivery service to libraries and eliminates duplicated work in the branches

Annual Report 1949,1950

1950s

Arbutus Library

Moves into larger quarters over the A and P supermarket on East Drive in the early 1950's

Arbutus Library

1950 February 1

Essex Library

Moves to South Taylor Avenue from 42 Warren Road

Annual Report, 1950

1951

Interlibrary loan department

Established to provide customers with books from another BCPL branch or from Enoch Pratt Free Library's Division of Library Extension

Annual Report 1951, 1952

1951 November 11

Pikesville Memorial Library

Dedicates new building

Annual Report 1951

1952 September 8

Bookmobile service

Begins with one vehicle and headquarters in the building previously occupied by the Pikesville Memorial Library

Annual Report, 1952

1954 February 23

Dundalk Library

Moves to a building acquired from Bethlehem Steel in heart of Dundalk on Center Place. First library building owned by Baltimore County.

BCPL Archives

1954 December

Moves to new location at 437 Maryland Avenue

BCPL Archives

1956 January

Bookmobile service

Expands with second vehicle to cover eastern area of Baltimore County. It is housed at the Essex Library and carries 3,100 volumes. It is a 32 foot 10 ton vehicle with air brakes, power steering, and electrical generator. Essex is the first branch responsible for combined bookmobile and branch operation.

BCPL Archives

1956

Survey of public library service authorized

Board authorizes survey to produce plan for future development of library services in county. Consultants were headed by Dr. Lowell Martin, dean of Graduate School of Library Services at Rutgers University.

BCPL Archives

1956 December

Long playing recordings

Added to all libraries and both bookmobiles. The collection included classical, vocal, children's, drama recordings. First collection was started at the Middle River Library.

BCPL Archives

1957 March 4

Towson Library, Administrative offices, and Bookmobile Headquarters

Share rented quarters at 28 West Susquehanna Avenue. Previously the Towson Library was located in a six room apartment at 25 West Pennsylvania Avenue. It was so crowded that even the bathtub as well as closets and kitchen housed the collection!

BCPL Archives

1957

Lowell Martin survey report

Prompts growth plan which is adopted by Board of Library Trustees. Branches to be spotted around beltway and designated as "area" or "community" in size. "Area" libraries are to serve as resource centers for "community" size libraries.

Staff Handbook - Overview
May 1999

1958 March

Middle River Library

Moves to larger remodeled quarters in Community Building on Compass Road

BCPL Archives

1959 January

Charles W. Robinson becomes Assistant County Librarian

Mister Robinson comes from Free Library of Philadelphia where he was administrative assistant to Emerson Greenaway.

BCPL Archives

1959

Machine charging (checkout materials)

Towson Library is the first in county to use photo-charging. A photo was taken of each patron card transaction using RECORDAK and McBee Keysort process. Results were stored on microfilm.

BCPL Archives

1961 July

Parkville Library

Opens at 9221 Harford Road in rented quarters.

Baltimore American
April 15, 1962

1961 August

Cockeysville Library

Moves to larger quarters.

Baltimore American
April 15, 1962

1961 October 16

Reisterstown Library

Moves to 21 Cockeys Mill Road into a historic building dating from 1820's. The building first  known as the Franklin Academy, later became the first high school in Baltimore County

Reisterstown Library

1962

"Library Associate" Training Program

"To help meet pressing need for trained, knowledgeable people to assist the public in the use and enjoyment of materials available in library collections", BCPL created a new job classification and started a training program for "Library Aides". This program eventually went statewide.

Give 'Em What They Want! Managing the Public's Library

1962

Arbutus Library

Moves to two story building at Sulphur Spring Road and Benson Avenue. Basement used for County health center

BCPL Archives

1962

Catonsville Library - Friends

Friends of the Catonsville Library established.

Catonsville Library

1963

New Director

Charles W. Robinson named Director after death of Richard D. Minnich.

33 years of Inspired Leadership

1963 June 10

Moves from 28 West Susquehanna Avenue to 25 West Chesapeake Avenue, second floor, Towson

BCPL Archives

1963 September 9

Perry Hall Library

Opens at a leased location at 9440 Belair Road. The building was privately constructed to library specification and leased by Baltimore County. It replaced bookmobile service to the area.

Branch Statistical Summary, Fiscal Year 2001

1963 December 9

Catonsville Library

Moves into present building at 1100 Frederick Road. Catonsville Library is the first "area library" to be constructed according to Martin Plan concept devised in 1958. It was the first library building actually built by County as a library.

BCPL Archives

1965 July 15

Book catalog

BCPL is first library in country to replace the card catalog with a computer generated catalog in book form. This allowed customers to see the holdings of all the branches in the system for the first time.

Branching Out January 1998 and BCPL Annual Report 1965-1966

1965 April 15

County Library Board considers closing within in one year.

BCPL Archives

1965 March 15

North Point Library

Opens as the second "area branch" at 1716 Merritt Boulevard. It is the first library placed in a shopping center.

Branch Statistical Summary, Fiscal Year 2001

Established first collection of 8mm film in the metropolitan area

BCPL Annual Report 1966-1967

1966 March 21

Randallstown Library trailer

Supplies library service from a temporary 50 foot trailer, fondly called the RAT.

BCPL Archives

1966 December 19

5,100 square foot white concrete block library was dedicated at 500 Third Avenue, Lansdowne. It was the first library branch built by County under aid provisions of the federal Library Services and Construction Act.

BCPL Archives

1967 October 23

Moves from trailer to an expansive new building at 8604 Liberty Road

BCPL Archives

1968 May 13

Opens in an attractive wooded site located next to a shopping area. It was necessary to place the library building on one side of a stream bed and the parking area on the other side. Crossing the stream is a foot bridge.

Loch Raven Library Dedication brochure

1969 April 6

The library at 1046 Taylor Avenue, Towson wins a Maryland Best Design Achievement Award from Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Baltimore and American Institute of Architects, Baltimore Chapter.

BCPL Archives

1969 June 16

Building dedicated on June 15, 1969 at 1110 Eastern Boulevard.

BCPL Archives

A small bookmobile serves as a summer book van for children in summer camps and recreation centers. During the winter the vehicle stopped at institutions such as nursing homes and retirement communities.

Give 'Em What They Want! Managing the Public's Libraries.

Studied retail store design, particularly store layout and merchandising strategies. Resulted in library layouts being set up to encourage browsing and to the purchase of "book store" display shelving

Give 'Em What They Want! Managing the Public's Libraries.

1971 January 10

Parkville Library

Moves into brand new quarters at 9509 Harford Road and is renamed the Parkville-Carney Library

BCPL Archives

Begins system-wide in 1974 with four volunteers

BCPL Archives

1974 May 12

Towson Library and Administrative Offices

Move into new building at 320 York Road

Towson Library history (Web)

1974 June 23

Rosedale Library

This angular building opens at 6105 Kenwood Avenue.

Rosedale Library history (Web)

Centralized selection of material

Monthly book selection where all the librarians drove from their libraries to look at the titles displayed for selection no longer occurs. A Materials Selection Department was set up to handle new purchasing and replacement buying.

Give 'Em What They Want! Managing the Public's Library

1975

Microfilm format catalog

Replaces book catalog

Staff Handbook
Overview May 1999

Community Information File

Debuts as a paper file at the Catonsville Library. It becomes available to the public system-wide June 1975.

BCPL's Information Services Department Accurate Information Desk Historical File

1976

Towson Library

Passes 1,000,000 mark in circulation!

Towson Library history (Web)

1977

Automated circulation system

Towson is first branch to go on line with CLSI. All branches converted by 1987.

Towson Library history (Web)

1977

First Long Range Plan: To Satisfy Demand: a Study Plan for Public Library Service in Baltimore County

BCPL's first strategic plan "became the model for the Public Library Association of the American Library Association's Planning Process for Public Libraries".

Staff Handbook - Overview

May 1999

1977 October 17

Opens at 1811 Woodlawn Drive

BCPL Archives

1978

Generalism

BCPL initiates "Generalism". All librarians serve all customers. This eliminates separate Children and Adult Departments within the BCPL.

MOB Position Paper - Draft January 24, 1996

1978

Established when communities sought libraries that could not be justified in the library's physical facilities plan for the county. The County Executive promoted the idea of volunteer-run libraries for which the county would provided leased spaces and the library would provide a collection. They were stocked for quick pickup of popular adult and children's materials and were based in small neighborhood shopping centers. Four minis were established: Edgemere, Jacksonville, Owings Mills, Wellwood. They were administered by nearby full-service libraries. Full service libraries provided the full range of information and programming services with salaried librarians and circulation staff.

Give 'Em What They Want! Managing the Public's Libraries.

By 1979, all of the general service bookmobiles were gone from the system.

Give 'Em What They Want! Managing the Public's Library

1980

DIALOG

Clearinghouse office, now Information Services Department, began using an online DIALOG database to answer patron information queries.

MOB Position Paper - Draft January 24, 1996

1982 February 16

BCPL Archives

1982 February 16

Pikesville Library

Moves to quarters in brand new Pikesville Community Center

Flier for Opening

1985

Online database in branches

First online database access via EASYNET introduced in seven branches.

MOB Position Paper - Draft January 24, 1996

1986

Sneaks the Cat

Sneaks became the Summer Reading Club Mascot and is still making annual appearances.

BCPL's Marketing and Programming Department Jeffersonian March 7, 2000

1986

Compact discs

Give 'Em What They Want: Managing the Public's Library

1986

CD-ROM database

BCPL's first CD-ROM database is made available to public. It was Information Access Company's Magazine Index Plus.

MOB Position Paper - Draft January 24, 1996

STAR (Shortcuts to Accurate Reference)

Adopts and initiates extensive reference interview training for all information desk staff using an adaptation of the Maryland model developed by the Division of Library Development and Services of the Maryland State Department of Education. Trainers introduced staff to the key model reference behaviors still in use today.

Give 'Em What They Want: Managing the Public's Library and MOB Position Paper - Draft January 24, 1996

Added to collection

Give 'Em What They Want: Managing the Public's Library

1988 January 25

White Marsh Library

Opens in the expanding community of White Marsh in a 15,000 square foot building at 8133 Sandpiper Circle 21236

White Marsh Library history (Web)

Give 'Em What They Want: Managing the Public's Library

1988 October 3

Hereford Library

Opens at 16940 York Road Monkton, Maryland

BCPL Archives

1988

Hereford Library - LAN

First BCPL with a Local Area Network that included a 4 station CD-ROM network for electronic reference material

MOB Position Paper - Draft January 24, 1996

1991

Towson/Administration Offices expansion

Addition added to building at 320 York Road

BCPL Archives

1992 September 14

Arbutus Library

Moves to Arbutus Business Center, 1581 Sulphur Spring Road Suite 105. The library doubles in size to 15,800 square foot.

BCPL Branch Statistical Summary

1992

Give 'Em What They Want!: Managing the Public's Library

Written by BCPL staff's Blue Ribbon Committee and published by the American Library Association. The book described the BCPL's "Give 'Em What They Want" philosophy of service

BCPL Archives

1993 February

Libraries closed

Dundalk, Edgemere, Jacksonville, Lansdowne, Loch Raven, Middle River, Owings Mills, Turner Station, Wellwood libraries closed due to budget cuts. Results in layoff of 21 staff

BCPL Memos,
Baltimore Morning Sun February 12, 1993

1993 / 1994

BCPL changes circulation system

Moves to CARL for circulation. Customers interact with a GUI, graphic user interface, catalog called "Everybody's Catalog" and have access to online databases.

Branching Out January 1998;
Staff Handbook Overview May 1999

1995

Internet Service Provider

BCPL offers public internet provider service, called BCPL.NET.

Branching Out January 1998

1995

Reisterstown Library

Expands with an 1,800 square foot addition as well as enlarged parking for Reisterstown Library

Reisterstown Library

1995

BCPL web site

Launched with several databases mounted to expand information resources. It was first called "WOW Web", for Window on the World Web.

In-house documents,
Sun February 16, 2001

1996

Charles W. Robinson retires

Mister Robinson retires after 33 year as Library Director.

Sun May 25, 1996

1996 September

James H. Fish, becomes Director

James H. Fish becomes third Director of BCPL.

Sun May 25, 1996

1996 March

Essex Library's Libraries Online Family Learning Center

Microsoft Online Grant provides the library system's first computer learning center offering public access to computer software and the Internet. BCPL was one of nine libraries nationwide to be involved in Microsoft's pilot project to make computer access available to the public. Other library computer centers followed.

33 Years of Inspired Leadership -BCPL brochure

1996 November

Ask A Librarian Email service

Begins with each library as well as the Information Services Department responding to queries directed to their agency by Email

BCPL Archives

1998

BCPL Fiftieth Anniversary

Begins with each library as well as the Information Services Department responding to queries directed to their agency by Email

BCPL Archives

1998 May 1

Virtual Book Club

Begins as a book club Email discussion group

BCPL Archives

1998 June 22

Loch Raven Library

Reopens as a smaller version of its former self in its original building at 1046 Taylor Avenue, Towson

BCPL Archives

1998

Express self-checkout

Machines first installed at three branches, Catonsville, Cockeysville, and Towson

BCPL Archives

1999

Mobile Library Services

Read Rover (RR) and Special Delivery (SD) combine to form one department, formerly called Institutional Services.

BCPL Archives

1999 May

Infobank

Joint project of BCPL's Information Services Department and Baltimore County Department of Economic Development goes live. The content is geared toward encouraging business relocation and expansion in Baltimore County.

BCPL Archives

1999 April

Legacy Web

Web presence of historic photos that began with grant from Maryland Division of Library Development and Services (DLDS)

BCPL Archives

2000 February

Coffee Bar

First coffee bar in BCPL opens for service at Pikesville Library.

Pikesville Library

2000 July 20

Unique Management Services Collection Agency

Contracted to provide help in recovering long overdue items and fines

Flier explaining service to public

2001 January

Third bookmobile added

Dubbed 'Library on the Go'. 30 foot bookmobile holding up to 3,000 items has 4 public computers with Internet access and lift for people with disabilities.

Facilities Services

2001 May

Administrative Offices

Move into renovated second floor.

Internal office memos

2001 May 5

Randallstown Library fire

Early morning one-alarm fire damages work rooms and roof. The stack areas had mainly smoke and water damage.

Baltimore Sun, May 6, 2001

2001 July 6

Ask a Librarian Email reference service

Individual branch service replaced by a centralized response coming from the Information Services Department.

Information Services Department

2001 July 16

Randallstown Library reopens in temporary facility

Randallstown Mini Library, a trailer, opens in Randallstown parking lot with full time service, adult and children's fiction and non-fiction, audio visual, and 10 public computers.

BCPL web announcement

2001 October

Towson Children's Area

Opening of the "Kid's Kingdom", a castle with dragons, for the children of the Towson Library.

Towson staff

2001 December

Essex Library 'hooks' fish for it's Chesapeake Bay themed renovation

Essex reeled in one of Baltimore's ''Fish Out of Water" sculptures when it was auctioned on eBay. "Holy Mackerel", a brightly colored 40-pound creation by artist Bennard Perlman, first resided in front of the Baltimore Basilica across the street from the Enoch Pratt Free Library in downtown Baltimore.

Branching Out December 2001

AskUsNow! Virtual Reference

BCPL and Harford County Public Library provides first LIVE online reference service to Maryland students as part of a state grant. The target audience was "high risk" students needing help with homework related assignments. Eventually the service went statewide to the general public, as Maryland AskUsNow!, with many other libraries participating.

BCPL Memo

2002 January 7

White Marsh Library

White Marsh Library returns to full service after renovation and brief operation as a ''mini". The renewed space features a new Children's area, quiet study area, and express return.

BCPL web announcement

2002 April 29

Randallstown Library returns to full service after fire

Reconstructed Randallstown Library reopens its doors to the public after devastation by fire almost a year ago, Grand Reopening Ceremony held May 8, 2002.

BCPL Archives

2002 May 1

Essex Library begins modified service

Mini library service from Essex Library in downstairs meeting room while extensive renovations take place upstairs on main floor of building.

BCPL Archives

2002 June 24

Essex Library

Essex returns to full service with a Chesapeake Bay theme including lighthouses, "Fish Out of Water" sculpture, and replica sailboat.

BCPL web announcement. Also
The Avenue News July 3, 2002

2004 August 18

RFID goes live at White Marsh Library

White Marsh became the first library in the country to offer Fastrac technology, which enables customers to check out their own materials using specially equipped Fastrac express-checkout machines.

BCPL Archives

2005 June 3

Read Rover Plus is dedicated and begins visiting Baltimore County child care providers. Purchase was made possible as a result of a Foundation for BCPL project.

Baltimore County Calendar of Events September October November 2005

2005 June 5 and July 12

Downloadable electronic books (ebooks) and audio books

Made available through a partnership with other Maryland public libraries.

BCPL Memo

2005 August 1

Operates Mini Library in their meeting room for several weeks as they undergo expansion.

BCPL Archives

2005 October

Cockeysville Library hosts a pilot project to circulate zines, small self-published magazines popular among people in their 20s and 30s. The Library is the first public library in Maryland to circulate zines.

Baltimore Sun October 13, 2005

2005 October 12

Early Childhood Center

First Early Childhood Center opens at North Point Library. This was a multi-agency project named "Focus on the First Years" designed to provide families a "one-stop-shop" for services to families and a play center with learning activities for their infants and toddlers. in activities that encourage reading readiness and child development in the formative years.

BCPL Archives

2006 January 12

Official opening of the library's expanded facilities and Early Literacy Activity Center. Becomes the first county library branch to provide wireless Internet access (Wi-Fi) via a radio signal.

BCPL Archives

2006 March 23

All branches and the Administrative Offices have staff and public wireless networks available. The customer with a wireless-enabled laptop or personal digital assistants (PDAs) can access the Internet without plugging into a modem or other device.

BCPL Archives

2006 April 5

Lansdowne Library

Reopens after being closed since February 1993, occupying the original library building at 500 Third Avenue. Official ribbon-cutting ceremony held on April 8.

BCPL internal office memo

Released to the public. It features a collection of children (EC and E ESRB ratings) and adult (T rating) video games.

Implemented systemwide.

BCPL internal office memo

An interactive early literacy learning center opens inside the Rosedale library.

BCPL News Release
January 28, 2008

BCPL discontinues BCPL.NET dial-up Internet service.