As a longtime trusted anchor with branches in some of Baltimore’s most challenged neighborhoods, the Pratt Library has long been a resource for city residents with a variety of complex needs. However, librarians are not always equipped to help customers with some of these issues. By offering access to trained experts at the library, the Pratt is able to facilitate on-the-spot access to social, legal, housing, health, and other services, helping customers to get potentially life-changing information and assistance.

Partnerships are at the center of these efforts, with a variety of organizations, including most recently the Department of Social Services and Healthcare Access Maryland, providing expertise. This model has enabled the Library to assist thousands of patrons with a wide variety of issues, and to easily refer customers to the specialists that will best serve their needs. We continue to build on this model with partnerships with World Relief and Just Neighbors in the works to provide immigration legal services.

In FY24, the Pratt Library had more than 7,500 customer interactions with its social impact programs. Since April 2023, over 450 cases have been resolved through the direct partnership with the Department of Social Services. This partnership especially benefits our Spanish-speaking patrons who are usually not provided translation services in DSS offices, but are able to get assistance in their language at the library. Our Spanish-speaking patrons also uniquely benefit from our partnership with Healthcare Access Maryland to gain access to medical coverage.