Philly libraries will, at long last, be open on Saturdays

Ten Philadelphia libraries will begin operating on Saturdays this week and the remainder will add weekend hours on a rolling basis over the next several months, a long-sought goal of library officials who are still navigating the system’s post-pandemic rebound.

Free Library of Philadelphia president Kelly Richards, outgoing Mayor Jim Kenney, and a handful of other city officials announced Wednesday that libraries from South Philly to Germantown will be in the first wave of neighborhood branches that will add Saturday hours. Richards said library officials hope to have the remainder of the system’s 54 branches open on Saturdays by January — a timeline he described as “optimistic.”

The announcement marked a turning point of sorts for Philadelphia’s library system, which has for years been beleaguered by funding cuts, internal strife, severe understaffing, and inconsistent hours. The system, buoyed by a 30% funding increase last year, embarked on an ambitious blitz to hire some 300 new librarians and assistants to staff its branches.

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That process remains ongoing, but Richards said the system has made progress over the last 18 months. He said rolling out Saturday hours at every branch by early next year is dependent on hiring continuing at a fast pace.

“It was pretty bad in the pandemic,” Richards said of the staffing situation. “But as we received the funding and as we started promoting, doing job fairs, people wanted to come work at the library.”

Most of the city’s libraries ceased Saturday hours in 2018 amid what the system described as “inadequate funding.” More than half of the branches reopened for Saturday service months later, but then shut down again during the pandemic. Weekend service has been available at some branches in fits and starts since, including a four-month pilot at 10 branches earlier this year.

Kenney, who has made improving the city’s libraries and recreation centers a key tenet of his two terms in office, said Philadelphians have been without six-day-a-week library service “for far too long.”

“This is truly a great day in our city,” he said.

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And Kenney, who will leave office in January and be replaced by Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker, quipped that maybe Sunday service is in the system’s future.

“That’s on Mayor Parker,” he said.

The branches will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.