Enoch Pratt Free Library opens

January 1, 1886

The Enoch Pratt Free Library, is the oldest U.S. free circulating library. It opens in Baltimore as a “library for all, rich and poor, without distinction of race or color.”


The library inspires Andrew Carnegie to create the nationwide Carnegie Library system. Carla Hayden, a recent Pratt Library Director, is now the Librarian of Congress.


Currently the Enoch Pratt Library has 22 branches in Baltimore City and an annual budget of $43 million.

For More Information

Enoch Pratt Free Library

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