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Special Collections
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Baltimore County Public Library
The Library's
Collections
It's not just books. The library has so much more in our
collections that you need to know about . Movies, magazines,
games, music; it's all there for you to enjoy. |
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The library's
core collection of almost 1.5 million items includes books, movies, and CDs
which can be found through our
online catalog. |
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Books come in some pretty non-traditional formats these days and these digital formats
are particularly useful for people on the go. You must have
a valid
library card registered at Baltimore County Public Library or at a
participating Maryland library to enjoy either of these services.
- Audio or
"Talking" books" provide an alternative format for both fiction and non-fiction titles
if you enjoy listening to your books. Talking Books come in both
abridged titles (shortened) and unabridged (the full written work) flavors
as well as in a couple of different formats:
 Books
on CD: These "talking
books" are available at any BCPL branch and are great for listening to
in your car or on the go.. They're free and may be
held / reserved
or renewed just like any book but they
are not available for direct loan
or to be sent through Interlibrary Loan to other library systems.
 Playaways:
Playaways
are the newest format of audio, combining a variety of content with an
easy-to-use player. All you have to do is press play to start listening
immediately – there is no need for a separate player. Easily
operated a single switch, each portable
storyteller is loaded with one book that can be borrowed free like any other
book from BCPL and returned after three weeks. Offerings include old and new
titles, abridged and unabridged. Now available exclusively at the
Perry Hall Branch,
Playaways can be delivered and returned to any branch near you. Please
note: battery and earphones are not provided.
 Downloadable
Audiobooks:
BCPL has partnered with
Ingram and
Overdrive to provide our
users with downloadable audio books to listen to on your PCs or portable
listening devices. These titles can frequently be found in the
BCPL catalog but can also be
searched and checked out directly on those partners sites.
Visit our
Audiobook page for more details since not all downloadable audiobooks will
work on all devices.
- eBooks also come in lots of styles and formats but
they are essentially online text versions of books to be read on your PC or
on select portable reading devices. Borrow popular titles
from
Overdrive,
Maryland's Digital eLibrary Consortium (in
Adobe eBook format) to download for your online
reading pleasure. Visit our
eBook page
for more information on using eBooks. Our
online catalog also lists
a small collection
eReference books for your online research needs.
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BCPL has a small collection of Braille board and picture books suitable
for children from birth to five years and 6 to 8 years, Some titles may be
found at any of our libraries. Designated collections are available at the
Towson, Parkville, and Reisterstown branches. Text is in both Braille and
English. These can be used by a sighted child learning to read assisted by
a parent who is blind or a child who is blind learning Braille. To find
Braille books in the BCPL catalog, type "Braille Books" in the catalog
search box or
click here.
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 BCPL provides you access at no charge to a variety of
online databases, including
magazines, journals, newspapers, automotive and engine repair, biographies, test
and exam practice tests, health, business, community, encyclopedias and more. Databases are very useful for research and school
assignments. Databases are available at
Baltimore County Public Library branches and most are
available from home, work or school through the Baltimore County Public
Library home page. All you need is a
library card.
Electronic Reference Books or
eReference Books are similar to databases in that
the content can be searched online and printed. These books do not have to be
checked out or downloaded, and are always available for use either in the
library or from home. Topics covered in these electronic books include World
Religions, Law, Nations, Clothing and Fashion, Multicultural America,
Literature, and more. You can access eReference Books online at any branch or
from home with a valid library card.
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 Check out current releases of for both adults and children's titles available
on DVD. Please see
DVD policies and fees
for more information about this collection since they do have lending policies
that are substantially different than those established for the book
collection.
Check out new
DVD releases on the library's Hot Titles pages...
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 BCPL
does its part to help secure the community. The library has engravers
available for checking out. Use these to engrave your belongings such as
bikes or other valuables. These devices can be placed on hold and
checked out just like our books. Check to
see if your branch has an engraver available or to place a hold at the
branch of your choice.
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The library has limited lending collections in three non-English
languages. While some of these may be found at any of our branches, the
following locations have designated collections:
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Korean -
Cockeysville,
Parkville, and
Towson have fiction and non-fiction for adults and children.
·
Russian - Russian materials for adults and children
can be found at
Pikesville,
Randallstown and
Reisterstown. A small collection of entertainment, two-day loan DVDs
in Russian for adults are available at Pikesville and Reisterstown.
·
Spanish - Children's books, mainly picture books,
in Spanish and bi-lingual Spanish and English can be found at all
branches.
Catonsville,
Essex,
North Point,
Perry Hall, and
Towson have collections of Spanish fiction and non-fiction books for
adults and older children and a small collection of entertainment DVDs.
The library also provides access to
Mango which is an online language-learning system that teaches
conversation skills for twelve different languages including English as
a Second Language.
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 All branches have a wide variety of both fiction and non-fiction large type
books.
These materials are listed in the library's online catalog and can be
identified by the prefix of "LT" as a part of the call number. You can
also review
new large type fiction and
new large type non-fiction titles that have been purchased by the
library by visiting our
Hot
Titles pages.
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 Browse our fascinating collection of local historic photographs on the
Web. The collection contains almost 18,000 images! All
aspects of life in Baltimore County for the last 130 years are contained in
Legacy Web,
Baltimore County Public Library's photo archive. Included are most
aspects of rural living, including photographs of people, buildings, sites,
and events in the Baltimore County area. Search or browse this growing archive of annotated, digitized
photographs of Baltimore County as well as
Baltimore magazine from 1917 to 1928. You can even
buy copies
of most of the photos.
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 Arbutus,
Catonsville,
Reisterstown and
Towson branches
have historical materials about the local
communities they serve. The local community history information consists of
rare and out-of-print books, newspaper clippings, and historical prints of
local sites. These materials are non-circulating and in some cases are
accessible by appointment only. Please call the library to determine whether
you need an appointment to view their historical collection.
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 Whether
planning an excursion, delving into history, locating government information, answering
school assignment questions, or just browsing for photographs, sports, and more,
this collection includes abroad spectrum of material. All libraries have a
wide variety of materials about Maryland and Baltimore County.
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 Towson and Catonsville branches have microfilm readers and
microfilm of older
and current newspapers and magazines. See the index of Microfilm for a
listing of the names of newspapers and magazines available.
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 BCPL carries a wide variety of music on CD. These CDs can be checked out for
21 days, can be renewed, and placed on hold.
Be sure to check out the
new and on order CDs at the Baltimore County Public Library's
Hot
Titles pages.
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 All libraries have current subscriptions to a few newspapers and a wide
variety of magazines in print. To find out if a specific title is owned
please visit or call
your local library
or check our online holdings list.
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 The Robert Joseph Wortman American Sign Language Collection of adult and children's
DVDs is housed at the North Point
Library. This collection covers many issues of interest to the deaf
community, including teaching or learning Sign Language as well as
information for the hearing parents of a deaf child.
The
DVDs from this
special collection can be checked out, placed on hold, and
renewed.
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Video Games
The Library has a large
FREE
selection of readily available video games for your enjoyment.
Just click on your preferred gaming system and place a hold on
the title/s that you want to borrow. The disc will usually
be sent and waiting for you in the branch of your choice within
one to two business days... |
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An Important Notice:
In early December,
we will be upgrading to a new computer system. The upgrade will take
several days. Tentatively, from
December 4 through December, 9 our catalog and circulation system
will be offline. We apologize for the
inconvenience. We are working to make the transition as smooth as
possible for you.
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Additional gaming resources (such as information about video game
ratings, parental controls, strategies, etc) can be found on BCPL's
Video
Game Resources page.
Customers may borrow a limit of three games, free of
charge, for twenty-one days. Click here to read more about the
borrowing policies for
video games or for more information on
placing a hold.
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Baltimore County Public Library, Towson Maryland USA
Last Revised: 19 November 2009
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