Enoch Pratt Free Library   

400 Cathedral St
Baltimore, MD 21201
410-396-5430
www.prattlibrary.org

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The Enoch Prratt Free Library, one of the city's most beautiful cultural centers, got a little extra space when its 43,000-square-foot annex was christened during a ribbon-cutting ceremony in September 2003. The $17 million addition, the first major expansion in the library's 71-year history, was built between the existing building and the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, and is designed to enhance community service. The new addition is home to a Maryland Reading Room, featuring authors with ties to the state, such as Edgar Allan Poe, and an African American Reading Room. Special collections will be housed there, along with the Mencken Room. As with most modern libraries, Pratt has to keep up with the times and SAILOR, the state's primary Internet provider and electronic information hub will take up residence in the annex. A new public computer lab with 35 stations is part of that upgrade. -- Penny Colston