What I like best in Baltimore is the people, the neighborhoods and what goes on in the neighborhoods. Each has its own stories, own diners and own quirks. It's about community.
— Barbara Mikulski, U.S. senator
This week marks three months since the launch of Pratt Chat. This successful blog is the product of contributions from more than two dozen people, including 15 contributors, four editors, and numerous guest contributors from inside and outside the library.
As a newcomer to Baltimore (I just celebrated my own first anniversary of my arrival last month), I have been struck again and again by the pride that residents have for this city. I find Baltimore to be challenging, complex, rich, exciting, and full of people working together every day to make it better.
For me, no institution represents this pride and these incredible people like the Enoch Pratt Free Library. Library branches around the city support individuals on their quests for knowledge and bring people together for programs ranging from lifelong learning, to musical performances, to exercise classes.
Creating Pratt Chat was my first task as a new employee at the Library, and from day one I have envisioned this space as one in which people who represent all these diverse cross-sections of Baltimore can share their stories about experiences at the Library, books that have inspired them, and programs they have participated in.
The Pratt Chat team has fully realized my hopes, and then some. This talented and dedicated group of contributors have ensured that we have had high-quality, interesting posts every day since our launch on May 21, 2012. We are celebrating this milestone with a small redesign, which you now see in front of you.
Today we offer two new features: Rotating banners with images from Baltimore and quotes we love, and a Featured Posts area in the sidebar, where we will highlight content that we don’t want you to miss.
Whether you are visiting for the first time, or a regular reader, thank you for visiting Pratt Chat, and we hope you’ll come back often.
