Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Enoch Pratt seeks to preserve staff levels, expand digital resources and address long-standing capital backlog
Summary
At a Baltimore City Council hearing, Enoch Pratt Free Library President Chad Helton outlined FY26 priorities—maintaining staffing, expanding e-resources and continued capital projects—and council members pressed for a fast, detailed capital-needs analysis, with special focus on Park Heights and other branches.
Chad Helton, president and CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, told the Baltimore City Council the library’s FY26 budget centers on three priorities: maintaining current staffing levels, expanding digital resources and continuing capital improvements across the system.
Helton said the library saw nearly 1,200,000 visitors in 2024 and circulated more than 2,400,000 items — a 25% increase year over year — and that 123,000 people participated in library programs. He described ongoing capital work including HVAC upgrades, branch refreshes and construction of the Johnson Square branch, which he said will occupy the ground floor of a 109-unit mixed-income building and is on track for completion in the fall. He also flagged ARPA-funded redesigns of computer spaces at the Brooklyn and Reisterstown Road branches and expansion of Pratt Anywhere Labs to extend digital access in underserved neighborhoods.
Why…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
