BCPL's Mobile Library Services operates 4 bookmobiles, with the two largest branches at Cockeysville and Towson, while fulfilling environmental and sustainable goals.
[20] By October of the same year, an administrative office had opened, at its temporary location sitting on Towson's 120 West Pennsylvania Avenue and a county librarian, Richard D. Minnich, was appointed.
In February 1982, the Cockeyville Branch opened at its current location, being one "of the first libraries in the nation featuring open-face bookstore display shelving and neon signage.
[24] The following year, the PTA of Hereford High School initiated the idea for a library in the Northern part of Baltimore County.
[22] The following year, in 2011, The Baltimore Sun reported that an FBI agent, Kyra M. Dressler, "asked a federal judge to sign search warrants for computers and hard drives in the Baltimore County Public Library's branches in Woodlawn and Catonsville," where a Nicaraguan-born man named Antonio Martinez, who they suspected of being a "terrorist," had reportedly used the library's public computers.
[36] The same year "a $30 million, six-story building" which houses the Owings Mills Branch and the "center for the Community College of Baltimore County" began to be constructed, and was completed in 2013.
His budget involved the transfer of 28 positions within the system "to the county's Office of Information Technology (OIT) starting July 1" with administration officials saying it would make the government "more efficient" with no cuts in jobs, but library advocates across the state worried that this did not follow due process and set a bad precedent.
In July 2015, a broken water pipe damaged the interior of the Branch, closing it for one year so it could "undergo the $3 million extensive renovation and expansion," and it was reopened in June 2016 with increased space for "books, computers and meeting areas," covering a total of 15,000 square feet, including "self-service kiosks for checking out books, several computers for public use, a bar with outlets for laptop use," among other aspects.
[52] On September 13, 2022, the financial portions of the first contract were ratified after Baltimore County Council approved money to be allocated for this purpose.
[53] The following BCPL branches are open to the public:[54] Mobile libraries are also available for both adults and children, which visit senior retirement homes, assisted living facilities, special needs schools, and other places.
These include foreign language materials, local history resources, online databases, showing of films within library branches, and much more, in an effort to generate community participation.
In March 2017, the Arbutus, Loch Raven, North Point, Pikesville, Reisterstown, Rosedale, Towson, and Woodlawn BCPL branches invited the public (and general community) to view, free-of-charge, Ava DuVernay's documentary 13TH, which explores "ties between slavery, the current mass incarceration of African Americans and the profits of the prison-industrial complex," which was followed by "a guided discussion.
Over the years, branches have had interactive displays about outer space,[67] held a behind-the-scenes open house for the library system's bookmobile,[68] and hosted cartoonist Kevin Kallaugher (KAL),[69] Other programs have included working with members of the cast of Annie who performed in White Marsh Mall to promote the BCPL's summer reading program,[70] publishing a directory of "more than 3,500 nonprofit organizations in the county,"[71] and having a "presentation and discussion on recent research in reading and education.
"[73] In order to provide "additional resources to enrich the library's commitment to empower the citizens of Baltimore County" to learn, create, connect, and explore, it is registered 501(c)(3) organization.
[74] In particular, the Storyville program, created with the funding of the Foundation, BCPL, State of Maryland, and private sources, has been a resounding success.
Designed and created "to foster early literacy and school readiness skills," it serves as a place "where books and purposeful play come together to provide valuable experiences that nurture young children and support parents and caregivers.
Jim Fish, the longtime administrator of the BCPL, who retired in 2014, also counts "the library's work on early childhood services among his most important accomplishments" which includes the Storyville program.
[78] In July 2010, the president of the Foundation, Jeffrey Smith, wrote a letter to the editors of The Baltimore Sun, stating that the addition the Cockeysville Branch would "allow for an increase in total public space in this library while also offering the chance to improve and maximize overall public accessibility" and that such improvements are only the "most recent in a series of investments in the system," and arguing that despite the fact that the times are "economically challenging," libraries are vital, and thanked residents of the county and local elected officials for having "the foresight to ensure sufficient funding to support this growth in use.
"[79] He further argued that this meant that there was "recognition of the importance of libraries as an essential public service will allow BCPL to continue to effectively respond to the increasing needs of Baltimore County citizens."