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Library · Woodlawn · part of Baltimore County Public Library

Woodlawn Branch

Woodlawn’s library is the Woodlawn Branch, a branch of Baltimore County Public Library, which serves 849,316 people and lent 8.9M items last year.

1811 Woodlawn Dr., Baltimore 21207 · about 60 hours a week
Photo: Carol M. Highsmith
Borrowed a year
8.9M
10.5 per resident
Visits a year
2.6M
3 per resident · Above typical (2.1)
Programs & events
7,393
about 142 a week · 204K attended
Cardholders
47%
398,929 cards
Open
60 hrs
a week at this branch

What stands out about Woodlawn Branch

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · What people borrow

Mostly books and media off the shelf

8.9M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

8.9Mloans
Books & media (adults) 61%Kids’ books & media 16%E-books, audio & streaming 23%
From your couch

2,042,250 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.67 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Woodlawn cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$0
a year at retail prices · $0 a month

Who pays for it
$64 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $54M.

Local taxes 76%State 19%Federal 0%Gifts & other 4%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $144M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $54M budget.

Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.

Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 398,929 cardholders ÷ 12.

The building

Find it

Woodlawn Branch, 1811 Woodlawn Dr., Baltimore.

60
hours open a week
26,976
square feet
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Baltimore County Public Library branch.

New in Woodlawn? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 157 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Baltimore County Public Library system. The library’s own count.

2.6M
visits
3 per resident
8.9M
loans, print + digital
10.5 per resident
7,393
programs & events
204K attended
399K
library cards
47% of people served
Every open hour157items borrowed
Every week3,926people at a program
Every day1,742Wi-Fi sessions
455 staff (full-time equivalent)460 public computers
How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S. A tiny town’s library always looks busier per person, so it’s only compared with its own size.

Visits per resident 3 visits · typical 2.1Higher than 78%
Borrowing per resident 8.1 print items · typical 3.2Higher than 89%
Digital borrowing 2.4 e-items · typical 1.4Higher than 72%
Kids’ borrowing 1.7 kids’ items · typical 1.6Higher than 54%
Program attendance 0.2 attendees · typical 0.2Higher than 58%
Programs offered 8.7 per 1,000 residents · typical 9Lower than 55%
Cardholders 47% of residents · typical 42%Higher than 63%
Spending $64 per resident · typical $36Higher than 81%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Baltimore County Public Library serves 849,316 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.

Kids & programs

About 63 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Woodlawn →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–51,868
Ages 6–111,382
Teens1,540
Adults2,603
All ages0
Little ones
35.9

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

1.5M
kids’ books & media borrowed
204K
people at programs
7,393
programs
Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHours
BaltimoreEnoch Pratt Central fine-free4.251
WoodlawnWoodlawn Branch fine-free—60
Ellicott CityMiller Branch fine-free—61
LochearnNone of its own——
Milford MillNone of its own——
CatonsvilleNone of its own——

Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report.

About these numbers

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • Hours are an average. The survey reports a building’s public hours for the whole year. We divide by the weeks it was open, so check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
  • Compared by size. “Similar-size” means libraries serving about as many people, nationwide. Per-resident numbers always flatter the smallest towns, so they’re never compared with big cities.
  • The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
  • System-wide. Woodlawn Branch is one branch of Baltimore County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 849,316 people it serves.

Book talk

Reading, story times and the library in Woodlawn.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Is Woodlawn Branch one of the best things about Woodlawn?

Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.

Start a conversation

Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.

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