Being governor, it turns out, is a pretty good way to build your library — and to collect clothing, cookies, calendars, key chains and other trinkets.

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) reported receiving 86 books last year on a recently filed financial disclosure form that included an 11-page list of gifts.

Former president Bill Clinton sent Gov. Martin O’Malley his latest book. (Charles Rex Arbogast/AP)Nearly half of the books were sent by the authors themselves, including Bill Clinton. The former president forwarded a copy of his latest, “Back to Work: Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy” — along with a pen set and holiday ornament. The package arrived around Christmastime.

Along with various ties and T-shirts, clothing received by O’Malley also included a full Maryland Terrapins football uniform, with a helmet, of course. That arrived courtesy of Kevin Plank, chief executive of Under Armour, the Maryland-based company that outfits the team, and was valued at $200. O’Malley has not been spotted wearing it around the State House.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, left, performs back to back with his fiddle player Jim Eagan as O'Malley's March plays an engagement last summer at Fort McHenry in Baltimore. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)Monday night’s concert was billed by Rams Head in Annapolis as an opportunity for Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) and his bandmates “to forget about their day jobs.”

The governor, decked out in a black T-shirt and black cargo pants, seemed more relaxed on stage than any time in recent memory. But the reemergence of his Celtic rock band was not altogether free of reminders of his elected office.

Fans of O’Malley’s March were greeted on West Street by several protesters whose signs registered their opposition to a possible casino in Prince George’s County. Maryland lawmakers could vote to authorize one during a special session that O’Malley has said he plans to call the week of July 9.

Inside the venue, Jared Denhard, who plays harp, trombone and other instruments, wore one of the “Dignity” buttons that supporters of O’Malley’s successful same-sex marriage legislation sported during this year’s legislative session.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)Newt Gingrich’s advice to Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley if he runs for president in 2016: “Raise a lot of money.”

Gingrich, a former candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, shared that insight Sunday during a joint appearance with O’Malley, the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

During most of the segment, O’Malley and Gingrich sparred over the job creation records of President Obama and his presumptive GOP challenger in November, Mitt Romney.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)But at the end, host David Gregory focused attention farther down the road, noting to O’Malley that there is “a lot of buzz about you running for president next go-around.”

Gingrich, who was significantly outspent by Romney in the primaries, called fundraising “the entry-level problem” in what he said is “a brutal, tough process.”

“You’ve got to be prepared,” he told O’Malley. “And then, second, just understand you’ll spend two or three years on the road.”

Gingrich also pointed O’Malley to the experience of U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), a former Virginia governor who considering bidding for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008.

Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), however reluctantly, is trying to steer Maryland’s debate over expanding gambling to a conclusion in coming weeks, he made clear in a story in a Sunday’s Washington Post.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)At one point during an interview last week, when asked if he enjoyed the debate, O’Malley shared an anecdote about his late father, who practiced law in Montgomery County.

The governor said he remembered asking his father, who was working on a probate matter at the time, if he was enjoying his work.

“He looked at me and said, ‘Enjoy?’ He said, ‘There are many things I enjoy. I enjoy you. I enjoy your mom. I enjoy your brothers and sisters.’ And then he said, ‘This is called work, and that’s why they pay you for it.’”

“So I don’t ask myself whether I enjoy it or not,” O’Malley said, referring to the debate over adding a full-fledged gambling casino in Prince George’s County and table games a existing slots locations. “There are other things I enjoy, and in order to enjoy those things, and to accomplish other things, I do things this world requires of me. That’s kind of my attitude about this gaming thing.”

Memorial Day weekend may be a break for most, but an e-mail solicitation Friday revealed it will be a working holiday for supporters of an effort to petition Maryland’s congressional redistricting map to the November ballot.

After successfully gathering enough signatures to put Maryland’s Dream Act before voters, and partnering with anti-gay-marriage groups to put that issue on a glide path to referendum, MDPetitions.com founder Del. Neil Parrott (R-Washington) warned supporters Friday that the group is in danger of failing to meet next week’s deadline to produce over 18,000 signatures for the redistricting ballot measure.