Library Board

Finksburg will get a library, one that is not as big as the county's five other branches, but a building with room to grow.In a meeting with the Finksburg Planning Area Council on Thursday, Linda Mielke, director of the Carroll County Public Library, discussed plans for a 5,000-square-foot Finksburg library.The project has received preliminary approval from the county commissioners, who plan to build it in about three years.Praise for interestMielke credited citizen activism for moving the project forward.

Within five years, Finksburg residents may be able to check out books, videos and tapes without having to commute nearly 30 minutes to Westminster or Eldersburg under a plan presented to the Carroll County public library board of trustees last night.The board approved a request for $1.7 million to install a library branch in Finksburg, which would become the sixth in the state's busiest library system.The board's request will be considered by county officials in the fall."It's a great asset to Finksburg and all of Carroll County," said Laura O'Callaghan, a member of the Finksburg Planning Area Council who has lobbied for the branch for years.

COMMUNITY ACTIVIST M. Peggy Holniker was committed to children and to their education through library use. She worked tirelessly to bring about the construction of the Eldersburg branch of the Carroll County Public Library.In memory of Holniker, the library board of trustees and the M. Peggy Holniker Endowment are sponsoring M. Peggy Holniker Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Eldersburg library.Organizers have scheduled free programs and entertainment for the entire family.Linda Mielke, county library director, and Jill Kartalia, board president, will offer remarks at 10 a.m. A film depicting Holniker's life and some of her achievements will be shown at 10: 15 a.m. Several local groups will perform jazz outside the library at 11 a.m.Children's identification cards and free blood pressure screenings will be offered from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Poetry and short stories for children, as well as a magician and arts and crafts, will be featured throughout the afternoon.

The two women are hardly alike except in their devotion to the little library around the corner from their homes in Charles Village.Jane Shipley is an intense sixth-generation Baltimorean who home-schooled her three children, now 18, 15, and 12. Judith Hart-McLean, a reserved therapist studying for her doctorate in ministry, was raised in Iowa and moved to the city from Columbia two years ago.They did not know each other until they became allies in a...

What to do with a closed library was the question at a planning meeting attended by two dozen Charles Village community leaders and Enoch Pratt Free Library officials last night.While no answers were reached regarding the closed library branch at 2521 St. Paul St., an "initial concept" of reusing the Victorian building as a community-run library and learning center was presented in a statement of intent from nine neighborhood groups."This is not the end, but a beginning," said Frank Jannuzi, vice president of the Charles Village Benefits District, who chaired the meeting in the organization's office.

Loch Raven area residents moved a step closer to getting a library back in their neighborhood when County Executive C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger agreed last night to support a scaled-down version staffed by volunteers.Community members have been seeking a library since budget cuts forced the Baltimore County library system to close the branch in 1993.About 285 residents packed a meeting room at Immaculate Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church in the 8500 block of Loch Raven Blvd. to listen to Ruppersberger's plan.

Enoch Pratt Free Library may proceed with the controversial closing of the century-old branch on St. Paul Street in Charles Village, a Baltimore circuit judge ruled last night.Pratt officials said last night they would announce the effective closing date of the branch today.With the decision, Judge Joseph H. H. Kaplan rejected an appeal of the Friends of the St. Paul Street Branch and declared that library management has a right to decide the closing of a branch without public participation.

In an article about a temporary injunction halting the closing of the St. Paul Street branch of the Pratt Library, The Sun incorrectly reported that the judge who made the decision said he is a member of the Friends of the St. Paul Branch, the group that requested the injunction. In fact, Circuit Judge John Carroll Byrnes is a member of the Friends of the Enoch Pratt Library.The Sun regrets the errors.A powerful Baltimore neighborhood has blocked the closing of its library branch after a judge issued a temporary injunction yesterday against the Pratt library board -- an unprecedented move that could stir other city neighborhoods to follow suit.

A Baltimore circuit judge ruled last night that Enoch Pratt Free Library may proceed with the controversial closing of the century-old branch on St. Paul Street in Charles Village.Pratt officials said last night that they would announce the effective closing date of the branch today.With the decision, Judge Joseph H. H. Kaplan rejected an appeal of the Friends of the St. Paul Street branch and declared that library management has a right to decide the closing of a branch without public participation.

After four years of asking the county to fund an expansion of the overcrowded Eldersburg library, South Carroll residents have gotten a commitment that the project will move forward this year.At Tuesday's public hearing on the library's capital budget, attended by about 25 library supporters, county budget director Steven D. Powell indicated that expansion work on the 14-year-old branch will begin as soon as possible.However, Powell said the county won't be able to fund the entire $448,598 cost of the first phase of the project in fiscal 1998, which begins July 1."

Hartgen heads restaurant association Paul Hartgen has joined the Restaurant Association of Maryland as president and chief executive officer. He held the same posts with the Nevada Restaurant Association and the New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association, and he held a variety of managerial positions with Ashworth by the Sea Hotel in Hampton, N.H. He is past president of the International Society of Restaurant Association Executives and an...

Anne Arundel County libraries will end Sunday hours for the remainder of the summer, joining cuts in branch hours and purchases of new materials as casualties of a shrunken budget. Annapolis, West County and North County libraries will resume, Sept. 7, but Severna Park and Crofton libraries will no longer be open Sundays. Nine other branches do not have Sunday hours, while the Maryland City branch has separate funding that allows it to remain open Sundays. The first Sunday closing will be next weekend, ending a more-than-30-year tradition of Sunday hours.

Harford County Government offices will be closed tomorrow for Presidents Day. The Harford County Waste Disposal Center will be closed, while Waste to Energy will be open. Senior centers, Harford County Public Library and public schools are closed tomorrow. Harford transit will operate on a limited schedule. Library board seeks candidates The Harford County Public Library board of trustees is seeking candidates to be considered for appointment to the board for fiscal year 2009 (July 2008 to June 2009)

Annual fire-hydrant flushing to begin The Harford County Public Works Department's Water and Sewer Division will begin its biannual flushing of about 4,000 fire hydrants tomorrow. Flushing will take place between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. Division officials expect the project to be completed around Dec. 15. Residents may see temporary discoloration of water, changes in water pressure, and temporary interruption of water service during flushing, officials said. Information: 410-612-1612. Library board chair up for new term Harford County Executive David R. Craig has recommended the reappointment of Jennifer L. Vido as chairperson of the Harford County Public Library Board of Trustees.

Offices, landfill closing for holiday Harford County Government offices, senior centers and landfill will be closed tomorrow for the Labor Day holiday. All three sites will return to their regular schedules Tuesday. Information: 410-638-3258. Craig nominates two for library board Harford County Executive David Craig has sent two executive appointments for the Public Library Board of Trustees to the Harford County Council for consideration at its Tuesday session. Edward Kimmel of Abingdon has been nominated for reappointment, and Richard Kinnard of Churchville is a new nominee.

New director joins Harford Land Trust The Harford Land Trust will introduce its new executive director, Margaret L. Niland, to the public at its annual meeting from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Feb. 24 at the historic Hosanna School, 2424 Castleton Road, Berkley. Niland will replace David P. Miller, who is retiring. Miller was one of the founders of the trust in 1991 and has been its director since then. Niland comes to Harford after 15 years with the American Chestnut Land Trust Inc. in Calvert County.

Lawyer to head Pratt Library's trustees Sandra P. Gohn has been elected chairwoman of the Enoch Pratt Free Library board of trustees and president of its board of directors, the library announced this week. Gohn - a partner with the law firm DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary - has been on the Pratt board since 1996, and also serves on the boards of the Baltimore Cancer Support Group, Baltimore Hebrew Congregation and Marjorie Cook Foundation. Gohn also has experience with libraries - she has a master's degree in library science and during the mid-1970s she worked as an elementary school librarian, according to Pratt officials.

TOMORROW Blue ribbon panel 5 p.m. in Room 003 of the County Office Building, 225 N. Center St., Westminster, on the Westminster Bypass. 410-386-2132. TUESDAY Carroll County Commissioners 9:30 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. in Room 300 of the County Office Building, 225 N. Center St., Westminster. The agenda includes bid approvals, an airport presentation and improvements to the intersection of routes 32 and 26. 410-386-2043. Carroll County Agricultural Reconciliation Committee 7 p.m. in Room 003 of the County Office Building, 225 N. Center St., Westminster.

Prince George's man convicted in murder of Columbia woman A Howard County Circuit Court jury convicted a Prince George's man Wednesday in the murder of a Columbia woman who was pregnant with his child. After deliberating for 4 1/2 hours, the jury found Tjane C. Marshall, 28, of Suitland guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Shameka Fludd, 23, who was found shot four times in the face, lying in bed at her Stevens Forest apartment in Columbia's Oakland Mills village in May last year.

Linda J. Mielke, director of the Carroll County Public Library for 11 years, has accepted a job leading a Midwestern library system that has four times as many branches and serves more than 800,000 residents. Mielke, 57, announced her resignation, effective in mid-August, at a board meeting last night. In September, she will become chief executive officer of the Indianapolis-Marion County libraries in Indiana, a system with a central library, 22 branches and three bookmobiles. "Without a doubt, I have regrets about leaving Carroll County," Mielke said.