Annapolis, Md., (April 5, 2021) – Anne Arundel County Public Library (AACPL) officials today announced that the system will allow its local history collection to be checked out for in-home use. This action represents the first time the collection of nearly 500 items has been available for borrowing. Roughly 1,200 highly focused and specialized titles, along with a number of books in fragile condition, once part of the collection, remain at the Anne Arundel Community College’s (AACC) Truxal Library.
“We are excited that our customers can now check out special items on Anne Arundel County and Maryland history making the collection more accessible and useful for everyday residents,” said Library CEO Skip Auld. “We expect to see much more use of the materials by making it more easily available to the public.”
When the old Annapolis Library closed for replacement, items in the library’s local history collection (formerly called the Gold Star collection) were moved to the Truxal Library for evaluation and accessibility by the public. The collection includes books, articles and other historical and genealogical materials that document the economic, social, political, cultural, religious and military history of our capital city and surrounding areas.
After much consideration, library officials decided that items in fragile condition, those requiring special care and protection and highly focused titles should remain at AACC as the academic library is better equipped to maintain the materials. Anyone who lives or works in Anne Arundel County or attends a Maryland college or university is eligible to borrow from the Truxal Library. The library is currently closed for routine visiting due to the pandemic and a reopening date has not yet been determined.
“This was a very difficult decision for us, but we believe allowing customers to check out local history materials from the newly built Michael E. Busch Annapolis Library’s Maryland Room will expose more people to our region’s exciting history while still allowing academic researchers access to rare and one-of-a-kind items at other facilities,” Auld said.
The library provides a special collection of materials on Anne Arundel County heritage, archaeology, history and preservation at the Anne Arundel Archaeology Lab at Historic London Town in Edgewater and at the Historical Preservation Research Library in the county's Division of Planning and Zoning. Additionally, the library collaborates with the Kuethe Library in Glen Burnie to offer a collection of over 4,000 books, many photographs, maps, CDs and obituary, bible and church record collections specific to Anne Arundel County. These growing collections provide an unparalleled resource for those in our local community with an interest or involved in historical research. It is accessible by appointment to people of all ages and backgrounds, including history enthusiasts, genealogists, students and scholars.