Internet service has been restored for libraries across the state from the Baltimore region to Maryland’s Eastern Shore after suffering outages due to the underground fire in downtown Baltimore that damaged several buildings Sunday morning.
Power was restored to the Enoch Pratt Free Library’s Main Library, just a couple of blocks from the fire, although it remained closed Tuesday. Facilities and IT teams are working in the library building to ensure it can reopen Wednesday, said Meghan McCorkell, head of marketing, communications and strategy for the Enoch Pratt Free Library.
The Central Library is the Resource Center of the State Library, which is the State Library of Maryland, so its librarians and staff collaborate with other libraries in the state to provide resources.
Central Library fiber lines provide Internet through the state Sailor network. Sailor, a project developed by Maryland Public Libraries, provides broadband Internet, IT and web services, as well as other technology resources or solutions, to Maryland librarians and residents, according to the State Library Resource Center website.
Due to complications related to the fire, library systems across the region were affected by internet outages that prevented access to digital products, databases and other services. The Central Library worked with Comcast to restore fiber lines, with the internet back up and running through Sailor by Tuesday afternoon, McCorkell said.
“It’s a really impressive network, very reliable and works incredibly well. And I guess when you have an underground fire, that makes things difficult for us,” said Mary Hastler, CEO of the Harford County Public Library.
Hastler has worked in libraries for nearly 30 years, he said, and this was the first time an outage of this magnitude had occurred. He noted that work is being done on a Sailor backup system.
Libraries in Harford County were open Tuesday, but the library system’s website was down, so people couldn’t access databases, e-books, online courses, e-movies and other services, and interlibrary loans were also suspended. However, Hastler said Monday was “like opening day for summer reading,” as people came in looking for help with things they couldn’t do online.
“We have amazing support in the county and among our patrons who use the library, both virtually and in person, and it’s always so rewarding when people are patient when something like this happens, which is not normal, and everyone comes together” , Hastler said.
Public libraries in Howard and Queen Anne’s counties were both open Tuesday, though not without internet-related complications. According to a Howard County Library System post on Facebook late Monday afternoon, customers could not access the website and catalog, but books could still be checked out. The systems were back up and running by Tuesday afternoon, the library posted on social media.
“We are as relieved as our patrons,” said Christie Lassen, director of communications for the Howard County Library System, after the systems were restored.
In Queen Anne County, where electronic products are widely used, some progress has been made, said Janet Salazar, director of the library system. But people couldn’t use public computers, and Wi-Fi was down, as was wireless printing. The integrated library system and telephones worked on hot spots, Salazar said.
Electricity has been restored to all customers affected by outages due to the fire, except for buildings between 322 and 328 N Charles Street, a spokesperson for Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. said, as it would not be safe to restore electricity due to the damage.
Only “a handful” of customers still experienced outages after Sunday evening, the spokesperson said, and most had power already early Monday morning. Power returned to the Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. Courthouse for the Baltimore Circuit Court around 6:34 a.m. Tuesday morning. Both the circuit courts and the Juvenile Justice Center resumed normal operations Tuesday, according to the website.
The Maryland Department of Information Technology, which provides service to state agencies, counties and municipalities through a state-owned fiber network, said its network suffered no outages due to the fire. Verizon, which has a manhole outside its building on North Charles Street, said no customers were affected and no equipment was damaged.
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