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Anne Arundel County Public Libraries seek continued county funding, request feasibility funds for Mountain Road site
Summary
Library leaders told the council the system is widely used and asked that the county maintain the executive's operating recommendation; they described capital investments (Brooklyn Park $4.7M, Severna Park renovations), requested $100,000 for a Mountain Road Library feasibility study and highlighted staffing requests including a maintenance mechanic and a Maryland CORE host partner program.
Library leadership appeared before the Anne Arundel County Council on May 11 to present the public library system's FY27 operating and capital priorities, asking the council to sustain county executive funding and to consider several targeted capital and position requests.
Lonnie Kios, vice chair of the library board of trustees, opened the library presentation by thanking the council and noting the system's reach: library leadership reported roughly 602,000 county residents have library cards, about 80,000 used their cards in the past year, program attendance is in the hundreds of thousands and building visits exceed 1.5 million annually.
Cedric Grant, the library's chief financial officer, and Skip (presentation lead) walked the council through operating highlights and capital priorities. The library requested a range of capital funds, including $375,000 per year in ongoing library renovation set-asides, $425,000 received this year in state legislative bond funds (a portion to create signage and privacy pods), and a $4.7 million allocated renovation for Brooklyn Park Library in the CIP. The system also described a new Mountain Road Library feasibility study request ($100,000) to evaluate a site on Edwin Rainer Boulevard and to explore potential co-location with a senior center.
On operating items, library officials called out two supplemental priorities they asked the county to consider: one ongoing maintenance mechanic position (about $58,757 fully loaded) to support building operations, and a Maryland CORE Host Partner program slot (about $101,946 total) that would bring three young workforce participants to library jobs and provide both service and recruitment benefits.
Council members asked detailed questions about the new Glenn Bernie library project timing, the library's supplemental list and how Mountain Road was selected; library staff said they had evaluated multiple properties and would proceed with feasibility if funding is available in FY27.
The presentation ended with council members thanking library leaders for long service and promising to review the requests further. No formal appropriation or vote occurred at the session; several councilmembers signaled interest in advancing specific capital projects if available funds and permits align.
