Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Library topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Baltimore County Public Library CEO outlines renovations, digital-equity work and mobile services
Summary
Sonia Alcantara Antoine, CEO of Baltimore County Public Library, told the county delegation about new social workers, an entrepreneur academy, device- and hotspot-lending programs, branch renovations and planned new libraries in Randallstown, Essex, Lansdowne and Middle River.
Sonia Alcantara Antoine, chief executive officer of the Baltimore County Public Library, updated the Baltimore County delegation on library projects, digital-equity initiatives, and community services during the delegation’s September meeting.
“Every great community has a well-resourced, great public library system,” Antoine said, describing the library as a place for transformation and community support. She outlined new and expanded services including social workers at branch locations, an entrepreneur academy, long-term device lending, and multiple renovation and new-construction projects across the county.
Antoine said the library restored social-worker staffing after a pause: a West Side social worker assigned to the Woodlawn and Randallstown branches and an East Side social worker assigned to the Essex and Northpoint branches. She highlighted the library’s Entrepreneur Academy, which began before the pandemic and has run 10 cohorts with 531 graduates who have started businesses.
On digital equity, Antoine said the library circulates more than 1,000 Wi-Fi hotspots and has a long-term lending program for Chromebooks and high‑speed routers (devices that can support about 30 simultaneous connections). Those resources are supported in part with federal relief funds and private foundation dollars; Antoine said sustaining the programs will depend on securing ongoing funding beyond limited federal sources.
Antoine reviewed branch projects: White Marsh will close briefly for interior upgrades, including the county’s first adult changing table in restrooms; Catonsville reopened after a roughly $7 million renovation that added the system’s first public recording studios; Woodlawn will be gutted and expanded by about 6,000 square feet; and a new Randallstown Library and recreation center is being designed at 8212 Liberty Road with $31 million in state funding.
She said the county purchased 4.5 acres for a larger Essex branch and that Lansdowne’s existing 5,000-square-foot facility is undersized for community demand. Antoine also described a potential public-private partnership to build a 26,000-square-foot library in Middle River where cardholder rates are comparatively low and population growth is strong.
Delegates asked about specific programs. Delegate Phillips asked how the library finds pro bono lawyers for its “lawyers in the library” service; Antoine said the library partners with legal-service organizations and is expanding mobile and in-branch offerings. Delegate Ross suggested more school partnerships; Antoine said Baltimore County Public Schools students automatically receive library cards tied to their student ID numbers and that the library is exploring after-school homework-help partnerships with the school system.
Antoine closed by thanking delegates for support and noting the library’s role in addressing digital access and local workforce and small-business development.
