Local Jewish philanthropists Robert E. Meyerhoff and Rheda Becker recently made the largest donation in the 143-year history of the Enoch Pratt Free Library.
The gift is part of $6 million in private donations raised by the city library system for the construction of its new Park Heights branch, at the corner of Park Heights and Woodland avenues in Northwest Baltimore.
“The new Park Heights Library will be a place where people of all ages can gather, learn and connect,” the Pratt posted on social media. “We’re proud to have raised $6 million toward this project, including the largest private gift in the Pratt Library’s history from Rheda Becker and Bob Meyerhoff, and we’re grateful to all of our donors who are helping make this vision a reality.”
The 18,000-square-foot branch is scheduled to open in 2027 and will include books, public access computers, a multi-purpose gathering area and a children’s reading room.
A groundbreaking ceremony will be held for the new branch on Wednesday, Aug. 27. The branch will be in walking distance of the C.C. Jackson Recreation Center and the Weinberg Park Heights Jewish Community Center.
In November of 1952, a Pratt branch opened in that community at the corner Park Heights and Garrison avenues. The location, known as the Pimlico branch, closed in September of 2001.
“This project is about more than just a building,” Chad Helton, president and CEO of the Pratt, told The Afro-American. “It’s about access and equity. We believe libraries are cornerstones of strong communities, and this branch will help open doors for generations to come.”
The Park Heights facility will be the first branch built by the Pratt in more than 15 years and is part of Mayor Brandon Scott’s Park Heights Main Street District Initiative. The initiative includes the creation of a park, a pavilion and new residential units built by the Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks.
Besides private contributions from such donors as Meyerhoff and Becker, funding for the Park Heights branch project comes from the State of Maryland, the City of Baltimore, the Pimlico Community Development Authority and the Pratt’s private fundraising endeavors.
Besides his philanthropic work, Bob Meyerhoff is well-known as a local real estate developer, art collector and horse breeder. Rheda Becker is a former faculty member of the Peabody Conservatory (now known as the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University) and is a veteran professional musical narrator. She served as the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s narrator for more than four decades and is known for conducting the Martyrology service every Yom Kippur afternoon at Beth Am Synagogue in Reservoir Hill.
Among the organizations and nonprofits supported by Meyerhoff and Becker over the years are the BSO, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, the National Gallery of Art and the Peabody. Meyerhoff and Becker are congregants of Beth Am.
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