Scott: Baltimore using $11.7M to upgrade libraries

The city of Baltimore is diverting $11.7 million in federal coronavirus pandemic relief funding to library infrastructure as part of Mayor Brandon Scott’s broader push to expand free internet access across the city.

The money, part of a $35 million chunk of American Rescue Plan Act funds set aside in November 2021 for investment in broadband and digital equity, will pay for renovations, staff, HVAC systems and part of construction costs of a new library branch in Park Heights.

At a news conference at the Brooklyn branch Tuesday, Enoch Pratt Free Library CEO Heidi Daniel laid out plans to replace rows of desktop computers with more private booths and rooms.

“The computer base you see sitting here behind me and outdated classrooms force customers to sit shoulder to shoulder with no privacy. We believe strongly that this setup creates a second-class digital citizenship for people who don’t have the internet at home,” Daniel said. “It’s a major equity gap in our city. Customers can’t conduct virtual job interviews, review private documents or have a telehealth visit.”

Daniel did not have a timetable for the upgrades across the library network’s 21 branches Tuesday afternoon, adding that the ARPA funds must be spent within two years. Enoch Pratt Free Library Communications Director Meghan McCorkell said that since the start of the pandemic in 2020, Enoch Pratt’s base of electronic librarycard-holders increased from around 6,000 people to over 40,000.

The library system will use $4.4 million of the funding to hire new digital navigators to provide one-on-one training and technical support, renovate desktop computer areas, and add workspaces outside but in range of the library’s free internet access.

The city will apply $4.25 million of the funds toward repairing and replacing HVAC systems, and $3 million will go toward the construction of a new $17 million, 16,000-square-foot branch in Park Heights in Northwest Baltimore, a project close to home for Scott.

“For me, the investment into the Park Heights library is very personal because I was a student in that neighborhood when the original Park Heights library closed, and I remember how much more difficult it got for me to go from Park Heights to the branch up on Reisterstown Road,” Scott said. “This is about creating an opportunity for the city to help and bridge that digital divide. The goal is to make sure everyone in the city of Baltimore has access to high-quality, highspeed internet because that’s something you need like water now.”

Scott campaigned in 2020 on a promise to close the city’s broadband gap by the year 2030 and established an office of broadband and digital equity shortly after taking office. In November 2021, Scott’s office announced internet hot spots in 10 West Baltimore neighborhoods, as well as at 27 community recreation centers. McCorkell said the new Park Heights branch project is not fully funded yet, so there is no timeline for construction.