Enoch Pratt Free Library – Southeast Anchor Library Branch

The bathrooms are so damn dirty. Sometimes its so loud in here that you can’t hear your self speak. Some of the librarians are so rude. Other than that its still a great place to sit and read.

I wanted to Unilocal!about this as a warning to any normal patron of a library. By normal, I mean you expect the library to be clean, quiet, free of drug use and mildly accommodating as a study space.
This library is SCARY to say the least. (I don’t know what the other two reviewers visited) but when I was using this branch of Enoch Pratt I chose it b/​c it was listed as the newest building in the system. What I learned was that drug addicts use the bathrooms for junkie purposes (so the level of interest in cleanliness waned overall) & the mural of obscenities scrawled/​scratched/​etched and carved into the bathroom stalls is there b/​c the library manager is sick of paying to remove/​repaint the stalls. There are no locks on the bathroom stalls b/​c junkies lock themselves in there at times and refuse to come out… The kids think the library is their after school rec– center (noise level included) and basically no one cares b/​c its been going on for so long OR that «some» of the staff may be encouraging the behaviors that I wandered dumfounded into (or out of… depending on how I see it…)
I wouldn’t buy food from the café after seeing the general cleanliness of the building (did i mention blood on the paper towels that were not installed correctly in the ladies room???)
#no.

It’s okaaaaay, but you’re not going to find anything really unique here — the selection is pretty mediocre but you can have anything shipped to this branch if it’s in the Enoch Pratt system. It caters to people who are more interested in renting DVD’s, popular fiction and books on tape. Most of the first floor is reserved for children’s books and «job finding resources» — this library caters to what a lot of inner-​city libraries cater to — people that don’t really read as much as they need a computer and want to dick around online for free. I get it, but if you’re looking for a place to discover some neat books you might not find at Barnes and Noble or if you just want to get out of the house on the cheap you might be better off going to the main branch. Place is okay, fairly clean, and is in a marginally crappy neighborhood. Staff is really sweet though.

Welcome to Highlandtown, hon! On the corner of Eastern Ave and Conkling St. you will find the southeast anchor branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library. This is one of the more modern of the Pratt libraries and boasts something for everyone. Multi-​storied building with meeting rooms, computer labs, research computer labs for those with longer needs, and all the information that a library prides itself on collecting for its neighborhood. Recently there has been a café that just opened inside the library as well so you can bring your laptop and lounge in a café or grab some coffee if you are doing an all day project and need to stay at it.
This is my favorite branch of the Pratt because it’s my local library. This is also the home of Frank Zappa. Well, only his head. Yes, in Baltimore September 19^th is officially known as Frank Zappa Day and you can visit a bust of his image in front of the Highlandtown Pratt library.
«If you wanna get laid go to college. If you want an education go to the library» — Frank Zappa.