Mayor Parker budget plan could fund more library heating and air conditioning fixes next year

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Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker’s budget plan announced Thursday includes $33 million over six years to replace old heating and air conditioning systems in libraries.

If approved by City Council, this funding could allow the Free Library to potentially double the rate it replaces HVAC systems in branches.

“Our libraries are one of our greatest assets. Libraries serve as a lifeline — after-school care for many of our children and their parents,” Parker said during her budget address to Council on Thursday. “Nothing more frustrating trying to be hot and read and then learning at the same time.”

Aging HVAC systems have become a major impediment to Philadelphia libraries’ ability to serve their communities.

A WHYY News analysis of Free Library data found that over half of Philadelphia’s library branches temporarily closed last summer due to air conditioning issues. In 2024, more than half of the city’s libraries shuttered during the winter due to broken heating.

The unreliable HVAC systems undermine a key part of Philadelphia’s plan to keep residents safe during weather emergencies such as heat waves and cold snaps, as some libraries are meant to serve as warming or cooling centers.

When library branches close, residents also lose access to literacy programming, computers, printers, job search assistance, free Wi-Fi, after-school homework help and public restrooms.

Free Library officials have pointed to budget restrictions as a challenge to replacing and repairing HVAC systems.

Parker’s budget proposal recommends a total of $39 million in new, city tax-supported funding for the Free Library over the next six fiscal years. That amounts to $6.5 million per fiscal year, a nearly 69% bump over the library’s capital budget this year of $3.9 million in new, city tax-supported funds for physical improvements to libraries, including HVAC renovations, roof replacements and security camera installation.

The mayor is calling for $5.5 million of the Free Library’s capital budget next fiscal year to go to library HVAC replacements. This would allow the Free Library to replace HVAC systems in 10 branches per year, according to the city’s Office of the Finance Director. Mark Graham, spokesperson for the Free Library, said in August that the department aims to replace HVAC systems in at least five libraries per year.

The Office of the Finance Director’s estimate of 10 systems per year may be optimistic, as Graham said last year the typical HVAC system replacement in a library costs between $500,000 and $1 million.

Kate Goodman, a library worker at Cecil B. Moore Library in North Philadelphia and member of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 47 Local 2187, the union that represents library workers, said library staff and community members have been pushing for more building improvements for years.

“We’re definitely glad to see incremental budget increases, and especially those specifically dedicated to heating and cooling,” Goodman said.

But Goodman said it’s not enough for the city to simply allocate more money for library facility improvements — the city must also spend it.

Goodman said her branch is still waiting for its HVAC system to be replaced through the Rebuild program. Renovations at the branch were originally scheduled to be completed by last summer, but were pushed back after Councilmember Jeffery Young asked Rebuild to delay construction so he could secure more funding for additional amenities. In the meantime, Lloyd Salasin-Deane, a spokesperson for the city’s Capital Program Office, said the city has made repairs to the HVAC system and performed preventive maintenance to prepare the building for summer.

“The money on paper is good, but we need transparency and accountability for actually spending the money,” she said. “If we’re being relied on in the summer and the winter to be emergency shelters, and we’re the only public spaces that are available for that, then we need to have reliable heating and cooling systems.”

Several protesters interrupted Parker’s budget address Thursday to urge the mayor to spend the city’s over $1.1 billion fund balance and reserves this fiscal year on libraries and recreation centers. Parker’s proposed budget for next fiscal year would leave a fund balance and reserves totalling close to $800 million, which city budget officials say is below the level the Government Finance Officers Association recommends.

Erica Brown, who was arrested for interrupting the budget address, said in an interview Friday that while investment in library facilities is important, understaffing and a slow hiring process are the most urgent issues at Philadelphia libraries. Money for employee salaries comes from the Free Library’s operating budget, which Parker has proposed increasing by around $660,000 next fiscal year compared to this year’s estimated spending.

“Even when those libraries get fixed up — which they should totally be fixed up as soon as possible — staffing is still going to be the key factor to whether they’re actually available to the public or not,” Brown said.