Guest Post: All About That (Elkridge) Branch

Yesterday I put out a call for information about the Elkridge branch of the Howard County Library. I didn’t have to wait long for an answer.

From Sarah Russo, former teen instructor and research specialist at the Elkridge Branch:

Elkridge is a fantastic branch. Slightly biased, because I worked there before I became a librarian for HCPSS. The new branch will have a DIY center, which sounds amazing - but honestly the librarians there are why I visit. Phil Lord, the branch manager, announces HoHS football games and is just awesome! Veronica ‘Ronnie’ Baker (legendary children’s librarian) and Phil Lord are original to the branch, which they opened in 1993. Ronnie also worked at the Elkridge ‘store front’ branch in the 1980’s.

I am so excited about their new branch!

There’s history there at Elkridge as well... In the early 1990’s, it was announced Columbia was going to be getting a second new library (what would become East Columbia), and Elkridge had barely any service (just a storefront). Elkridge Library actually grew out of a grassroots community action group that wanted to stop a truck stop from going in the area where the library now stands.

In order to meet they gathered at a funeral home (because they had no meeting space)! They raised money to promote the need for a full service library. Eventually the County relented and built the library which was built identical to Savage, but because the budget was tight, Elkridge was built with cinder blocks- while Savage had been finished with bricks.

Elkridge and East Columbia opened almost simultaneously, but as you can see...East Columbia (which housed the library administrative offices until they moved into the old Miller branch) was a much fancier branch!

Underserved for the growing population in this area, and a local grassroots fight for equality in County services...doesn’t it sound familiar? The story is 25 years old...but from stopping the double stack train station, to fighting for a high school -Elkridge seems to always have to fight for equal treatment (sadly). Luckily there are some great people in Elkridge willing to lead the charge.

But it’s always been the people that work at the library that have made Elkridge Branch worth visiting, and I know you can say that about every branch of Howard County Library! Everyone has a favorite branch...and when Elkridge opens again next month I hope you give my favorite branch a chance.

Sarah Russo is a Middle School Media Specialist in the Howard County School System.

Comments

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents. When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...

F ³: We Are Not Entitled

A college student went missing. His family and friends were distraught. The community was encouraged to be on the lookout and spread the word. Days passed. They must have been agonizing days for those who cared about the missing student. Thoughts that foul play had been involved cannot have been far from their thoughts. Then, at last, the student was found. Alive. The news was shared with the public. So. Much. Relief. A family had been reunited with their child. Even though we know that life is complicated, I think it is okay to accept this as a happy ending and leave it at that. But the world of social media says no. For every expression of joy at the news came questions and even judgement. It became clear to me that some folks felt entitled to an explanation. They wanted the backstory. It’s as though they felt that, by enlisting the help of the public on social media, the authorities now owed them all the details. Television dramas often weave curr...

Separate and Unequal

Remember “Separate but equal”? Remember how that really meant that Black schools languished in broken-down buildings without adequate heat or toilet facilities, with cast-off, ragged learning materials, underfunded and largely ignored? The Supreme Court struck that down in 1954. The evidence was clear that separate was not equal. Plessy v Ferguson had led to - - no, endorsed - - deeply unequal schooling and opportunities. We tend to think of Brown v Board as being purely about racial integration. It was not. It was about the logical consequences of segregation. And they were not, not, not equal. The ruling in 1954 didn’t transform public education for non-whites into a land of milk and honey by any means. But it articulated some essential truths in a way that made including everyone a legal precedent which could be relied upon and built upon. It was better than what came before it but it rested upon unsteady ground. It did not necessarily change the hearts or minds ...

Village Green/Town²

Search This Blog