![[photo, Light Street Branch, Enoch Pratt Free Library, 1251 Light St., Baltimore, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/36loc/bcity/images/1198-1-1383.jpg)
In Maryland are twenty-four public library systems, one in each county and Baltimore City, with a combined collection of 16.8 million items in Fiscal Year 2003.
Light Street Branch, Enoch Pratt Free Library, 1251 Light St., Baltimore, Maryland, June 2006. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
![[photo, Baltimore County Public Library, 320 York Road, Towson, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/36loc/bco/images/1198-1-738.jpg)
Maryland residents may register with and borrow materials from any public library in the State. Information and materials found through the Maryland State Library Network may be mailed, trucked, or transferred electronically to a local library. The public checked out over 51.3 million items in FY2003. Of these, 31.2 million were items for adults, and some 20.1 million were children's materials.
Baltimore County Public Library, 320 York Road, Towson, Maryland, May 2004. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
![[photo, Enoch Pratt Free Library, 400 Cathedral St., Baltimore, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/01glance/images/i005980a.jpg)
Increasingly, electronic access to catalogs and the Internet has made computers an integral part of Maryland library systems. Patrons may identify and locate library materials by searching catalogs linked to Sailor, an online public information network. Sailor connects Marylanders and their libraries to resources within the State and worldwide, providing access to the Internet and to e-mail. Sailor is available free through every public library, and via modem-equipped computers from homes, schools, and offices.
Enoch Pratt Free Library, 400 Cathedral St., Baltimore, Maryland, January 2001. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
![[photo, Health Sciences and Human Services Library, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/01glance/images/i005913a.jpg)
The Maryland State Library Network serves more than 400 libraries throughout the State, primarily through interlibrary loan of materials and information. The Network consists of the State Library Resource Center (Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore); 3 regional library resource centers (Eastern Shore, Southern Maryland, Western Maryland); 4 academic libraries lending specialized materials; and more than 125 libraries that fill interlibrary loan requests from their collections.
Some 178 public libraries were operating in 1999. School library media centers in 1,290 public elementary, middle and secondary schools hold more than 12.8 million items. Automated circulation systems exist in 79 percent of these schools and 56 percent provide on-line public access to their catalogs.
Health Sciences & Human Services Library, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 601 South Lombard St., Baltimore, Maryland, December 2000. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
As the regional depository for Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia, McKeldin Library at the University of Maryland, College Park, receives all publications of the U.S. government designated for deposit.
© Copyright Maryland State Archives