Library

The grand opening of the Howard County Library Charles E. Miller branch and Historical Center has been set for Dec. 17. The $29-million, two-story building, located at 9421 Frederick Road in Ellicott City, sits right next to the old library, which closed Sept. 30. County Executive Ken Ulman will give the opening remarks at 9:45 a.m., followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Tours and activities will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.  

A man suspected in a rash of recent Craigslist robberies was taken into custody at a downtown library, where police say he was using a computer - possibly to set up more attacks. David E. Brown, 26, is accused of orchestrating at least four robberies that took place in the 3500 block of Callaway Avenue, a residential street in Northwest Baltimore. Two attacks occurred last year, in August and November, but two others were reported to police this month. Detectives were interviewing Brown to determine if he was involved in any other incidents, and charges were pending.

Howard Community College leaders dedicated the school's renovated library Monday, with Board of Trustees chairman James Truby calling it the "new and improved hub" of the school. The $19 million project took three years to complete, resulting in upgraded study space, technology and laboratories. The revamped facility is named after the late state Sen. James Clark Jr. of Howard County. Originally called the Learning Resources Center, the building was the first to be built at the college.

Central Library 10375 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia. 410-313-7800. •All Together Now. Saturdays, 10:15 and 11:30 a.m. All ages; 30 minutes. •Chess Club. June 3, 1 p.m. •Eclectic Evenings. Second Tuesdays, 7 p.m. •English Conversation Club. Mondays, 10 a.m.; and Thursdays, 7:30 p.m. Practice speaking and understanding English in a group setting. Register before attending. •Great Reads For Vacay and Staycay. June 5, 7 p.m. Kick off the adult summer reading club.

Pu Yang learned some English while growing up in China, but when he moved to Ellicott City, he discovered that he didn't know enough about the language to speak it. Then he heard about a group called the English Conversation Club that meets Wednesday evenings at the Howard County Library's Charles E. Miller Branch and Historical Center in Ellicott City. Designed for people who know English as a second or third language, the club encourages members to practice speaking and understanding the language while offering cultural and historical context to English words.

The North Point Library is offering a free six-week course to help smokers quit. Greta Brand, a health consultant, will lead the weekly one-hour sessions that start at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. The class, paid for with a grant from the Tobacco Restitution Fund, includes free nicotine gum, patches and lozenges. Registration is requested. The library is at 1716 Merritt Blvd. Information: 410-887-7255. mary.gail.hare@baltsun.com Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

The Patterson Park branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library has been turned around.Literally.The front is now the back.The back is now the front.And the neighborhood library where Linwood Avenue crosses Fayette Street opens for business tomorrow for the first time since early 1990."

A long-stalled project to bring a library and community college to Owings Mills appears to be back on track. The Baltimore County Council is expected to review contracts for the facilities this month, Councilman Kevin Kamenetz said Wednesday . Developer David S. Brown Enterprises had agreed to build the $25 million facility that will house the library and branch of the Community College of Baltimore County as part of a larger project known...

The Howard County Central Library recently has changed its telephone numbers.Patrons may reach the library's various departments by calling the following numbers:* Reference and non-fiction: 313-7850.* Fiction/audio-visual: 313-7860.* Children's materials and programs: 313-7880.* Magazines and newspapers: 313-7870.* Operating hours: 313-7890.* Miscellaneous questions: 313-7800.

The Baltimore County Council is considering a measure that would allow the county to borrow $19 million for projects associated with the Owings Mills Town Center project, which will house a branch of the Community College of Baltimore County and a public library location, two projects that had long been stalled. The measure was introduced Monday, and the council also expects this month to review contracts submitted by developer David S. Brown Enterprises for both buildings. The 40,000-square-foot library would be the county's largest branch, with a café and wireless hot spots.

Zach Teal is just 17, but his love for books led him to write one of his own and to volunteer more than 250 hours at the Finksburg branch of the Carroll County Public Library. "Two hundred and fifty hours is quite unusual for our teen volunteers," said Heather Owings, who was volunteer coordinator at the library and now works at the North Carroll branch. Zach logged those hours over the course of three years, performing such tasks as making crafts for story times, signing in reading program participants, even wearing a mouse costume for a reading of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

Barbara B. O'Brien, a retired Baltimore County Public Library cataloger and an avid baseball fan, died Sunday of complications from Parkinson's disease at Gilchrist Hospice in Towson. She was 88. Barbara Burnham was born and raised in Hartford, Conn., where she graduated in 1941 from South Windsor High School. She was a 1945 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Vermont, where she earned a bachelor's degree in economics. She was working in Washington as a secretary when she met and married Edward J. O'Brien Jr., a salesman, in 1947.

The new Miller library branch in Ellicott City will open its Enchanted Garden next weekend, an outdoor learning space that will be one of the few nationwide to be owned and tended by a public library. The space, which will offer classes and activities related to nutrition, environmental science and gardening, was named for the now-defunct Enchanted Forest amusement park on nearby U.S. 40. There will also be programs on meditation, acupuncture, insects and painting in the new space, said Rita Hamlet, the development specialist in charge of the quarter-acre garden.

Anne Arundel Community College is closing its library and all services connected with the library on weekends.The library will close from 4 p.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Monday through the academic year.Information: 541-2341.RED-LETTER DAYS CHANGESeveral calendarchanges affecting elementary report card distribution were announcedrecently by school officials.All report cards will be distributed on the dates designated for "secondary report card distribution" onthe school year calendar.Students at all levels will receive their final report cards of the year on the last day of school.

A screening and discussion of the film The Murder of Emmett Till is set for 6:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Enoch Pratt Central Library, 400 Cathedral St. The free presentation - sponsored by the library and the Baltimore Community Relations Commission - marks the 40th anniversary of Till's death. The 14-year-old boy had traveled from Chicago to Mississippi to visit relatives in August 1955, and was beaten and killed, allegedly by two white men, after he purportedly whistled at a white woman.