Here on Cathedral Street sits the central branch of one of the most important public library systems in American history, built on a principle that was radical in the 1880s: that every citizen, regardless of race or class, had the right to free access to books and knowledge. Enoch Pratt was a Baltimore merchant and philanthropist who donated over a million dollars to establish a free public library system in 1882, specifying that it must be available to all races — a requirement that put Baltimore ahead of virtually every other American city. The main branch building on Cathedral Street opened in 1933 and has been expanded and renovated since, but the core commitment to universal access has never wavered.
H.L. Mencken, who lived a few blocks away, used the Pratt Library throughout his career and praised it as one of Baltimore's greatest assets. The library was desegregated — in practice as well as in theory — from its founding, at a time when restaurants, theaters, and most other public institutions in Baltimore were strictly segregated. The Pratt's branch system served neighborhoods across the city, and its bookmobile service reached readers who could not come to a branch.
Anne Tyler, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist who has set most of her fiction in Baltimore, has spoken of the Pratt as central to her development as a reader and writer. The library's Special Collections division holds extraordinary Baltimore and Maryland historical materials.