Pratt Chat is the official blog of the Enoch Pratt Free Library.
Join us for stories about experiences, events, programs, collections, and all kinds of treasures found at the Pratt Library.
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Library Associate in Information ServicesDespite having lived in Portland, OR for several years (where he began working in libraries), and despite being accused of lacking any form of discernible accent, Brian Manning is a native Baltimore-an. He has a B.A. from Goucher College in Literature, and an M.A.L.A. from St. John's College in Annapolis. When not holding a book you may find him holding a guitar, holding a bicycle, holding a pencil, holding his wife's hand, or holding onto his dogs' leashes. He wishes he could literally live in a book-house; since this is improbable, he works in the next best place.
Contributor Posts
- Bicycles in Bloom
by Brian Manning
4/4/2013
Well, it’s spring time, and for many people it’s time to dust off the old bicycle and hit the road for some jovial jaunts and freewheeling flings. But before you hop on your bicycle and start peddling ...more - Words, or Linguistic Quagmires
by Brian Manning
3/25/2013
Words: they are everywhere. Conversations, texts, mutterings, speeches, emails, treatises, colloquialisms, essays, signs, etc.—all brought forth through words. There is perhaps nothing as linked to the ...more - Hobo Signs & Traveling the Meandering Path
By Brian Manning
3/11/2013
I am not too sure of when I had my first taste of wanderlust, but I can recall reading Jack London and Jack Kerouac during my formative years, and feeling the itch for the open road. Either way, here I ...more - Plagued by Library Fines? Kids & Teens can Wipe the Slate Clean
By Brian Manning
3/15/2013
There are some things I immediately and pleasantly associate with childhood, including: my first crush; collecting and reading comics; playing baseball until after dark; and the wonder of exploring the ...more - 6 Library Books to Travel With
By Brian Manning
12/7/2012
It’s the Holiday Season, and for many Marylanders it is a time filled with trips, treks, and layovers. And for many dealing with the rigors of yuletide traveling, the ideal companion is quiet, a source ...more - Seven Secrets about the Stacks: Could someone disappear down there?
By Brian Manning
11/30/2012
If you’ve ever visited the Enoch Pratt Free Library’s Central Library location, then you know how large of a building it is—filled with bound volumes of passed-down thoughts from bygone ages, as well as ...more - Fall Rocks: A playlist for the chilly season
By Brian Manning
11/23/2012
It’s November, and the fall is finally in full regal: there are pumpkins on stoops, rich yellows and oranges, and an air of mischief in the cool night airs. This air of degeneration is captivating, to ...more - Charting the Central Library: Explore our Maps Collections
By Brian Manning
10/23/2012
Why do we look at maps? To see where we’ve been? To locate where we are? To see where we’re going? Or to see where we have not (yet) been? ...more - A History: The Wheel of Information Keeps Spinning
By Brian Manning, Telephone Reference Service
10/22/2012
Call the Enoch Pratt Free Library’s Telephone Reference Service (TRS) with a question—ranging from the correct spelling of "insurrection," to what the heck is in scrapple?—and librarians are waiting to ...more
