As a nanny for five years, Katie Orr of Catonsville had been well versed in library story time, bringing other children to various branches to be entertained.
Now, with a child of her own, she's takes her 8-month-old son, Gus, to the Catonsville branch of the Baltimore County Public Library to enjoy what it has to offer.
While Orr plans to get Gus a library card of his own within the next year, for the time being, mother and child are enjoying a weekly Baby Story Time at the branch. The 35-year-old works part-time as an event coordinator for a nonprofit and tries to take Gus on a weekly basis.
"We're not coming here just for the books," she said. "We're definitely coming here for the events."
Under the instruction of Jessica Crusse, infants from birth to 23 months old take part, with an adult, in activities that teach lessons such as rhymes and colors through books and songs.
"The things we carry have changed over the years, but we're still in the business of entertainment, stories and learning," said Melissa Gotsch, the Catonsville branch manager for the Baltimore County Public Library. "Our whole platform is lifelong learning. From birth to death, we should have something for everybody."
The idea of borrowing books in Catonsville, specifically on Frederick Road, dates back to the late 1800s, according to the Baltimore County Public Library. Back then, Library Hall on Frederick Road provided a rental book collection, with separate reading rooms for men and women.
In 1941, the Catonsville Free Public Library opened on Frederick Road, after demand for a free public library. The collection when volunteers from the newly formed Catonsville Library Association, Inc., went door to door seeking donations.
Within four years, the library had collected 3,625 volumes for adults and 1,276 for children, along with newspapers and periodicals. That year, the library moved to 927 Frederick Road. The current 25,500-square foot facility at 1100 Frederick Road opened in 1963. It's home to a collection of more than 123,000 items, including 100,000 print items, 15,473 audio products and 7,483 DVDs.
In the 2015 fiscal year, the library had 304,746 visits, 777,181 items borrowed and 13,042 people attending 476 programs.
Nationally, 96.5 million people attended nearly 4.3 million public programs and public libraries in fiscal year 2013, an increase in attendance of 28.6 percent for all programs since 2006, according to the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which released findings from its 2013 Public Libraries Survey in March 2016. The same report showed attendance at children's programs increased by 29.7 percent over 10 years, with 67.4 million attendees at children's programs and 6.1 million attendees at programs for young adults.
The shift to community programming is not sudden, according to Gotsch. For decades, libraries have tried to brand themselves as the "third place," the spot people would go to after home and work.
"Public libraries like to think of ourselves as the community gathering place," she said. "It's kind of like the public square, but we're covered and we have WiFi and we have electricity."
The library has been able to adapt as technology changes, Gotsch said. When she started working in libraries 20 years ago, the thought was computers would be used for word processing. As the internet became more prevalent, the thought was they should be used for research. Now, the purpose has shifted to communication and networking.
At the Catonsville branch, two rows of 11 computers are lined up back-to-back. Sharon Garry, a retired office manager, hopped on a computer to check into Facebook and email and to look into how to furnish her new home. A member of the library since the 1960's, the 74-year-old recently moved into a new home and doesn't have access to her own computer.
"I think the computers are a really big update for this library," she said. "After the books came the movies. Now it's books, movies and computer access. Heaven knows what else. I haven't explored beyond that."
The library now circulates learning tablets loaded with games for children and Playaway Views, a portable video player with pre-loaded content.
The future of the Catonsville library has some uncertainty. A $550,000 renovation project that would have included adding a recording studio in the library in the second quarter of 2017 was deferred due to a lack of state grant funding. The library was previously renovated in 1999. The county will apply for the funding again next year, Gotsch said.
"The renovation is like a dream that we have and one day it will be realized," she said. "But a lot of the planning for that funding doesn't go into effect until we're sure we have the funding."
But in the meantime, services will continue to be offered and flourish. And while digital advancements will continue, many will still want to come in to read a book.
"Books are important and the world is changing and it's kind of a constant," said Karina Caico of Catonsville, who took part in Baby Story Time with her 3-month-old daughter, Hattie.
Caico, 38, was reading to her daughter in the hospital when she was born. The two started attending the class since Hattie was 1 month old as a way to get her exposure to educational things and books, plus a way for mom to be social.
"It's a nice way for your child to see something hard and actually hold it in their hand," she said. "With technology, you lose a lot of that."