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Mission: To advance literacy, guide learning, and inspire curiosity.

Budget Trends: The Free Library’s FY15 General Fund

Current Projection is roughly on par with FY08 funding levels. In FY15, the Free Library received $2.5 million in funding to provide 6-day service at all neighborhood branches and to increase the materials budget. This investment in the Library system provided the funding to allow branches to go to 6-day service. In the FY16 Proposed General Fund Budget, the Free Library is

budgeted to receive an additional $1 million for the Read by 4th _{initiative, described in further detail}

below. Programs and services will be expanded with the proposed FY16 funding. The branches will be operating at 45 hours per week, a substantial increase from 37 in FY08 and will close at 6 PM, one hour later than FY08’s 5 PM.

Fund Class FY08 Actual FY14 Actual FY15 Current Projection FY16 Proposed Budget FY16-FY15 Change

FY16-FY15 Percent Change General 100 34,683,010 30,801,445 35,443,344 35,777,252 333,908 0.9% 200 1,844,502 2,716,996 2,752,077 2,922,077 170,000 6.2% 300/400 3,931,459 2,031,862 2,002,659 2,302,659 300,000 15.0% Total 40,458,971 35,550,303 40,198,080 41,001,988 803,908 2.0% Positions 713 609 648 697 49 7.6% Other* 100 3,458,180 1,346,239 1,125,717 1,226,084 100,367 8.9% 200 4,372,263 3,819,236 3,655,600 3,921,223 265,623 7.3% 300/400 6,132,453 3,040,322 3,156,051 3,366,737 210,686 6.7% Total 13,962,896 8,205,798 7,937,368 8,514,044 576,676 7.3% Positions 66 20 27 27 0 0.0% All 100 38,141,190 32,147,684 36,569,061 37,003,336 434,275 1.2% 200 6,216,765 6,536,232 6,407,677 6,843,300 435,623 6.8% 300/400 10,063,911 5,072,184 5,158,710 5,669,396 510,686 9.9% Total 54,421,866 43,756,100 48,135,448 49,516,032 1,380,584 2.9% Positions 779 629 675 724 49 7.3%

* Other Funds includes: County Liquid Fuels Tax Fund, Special Gasoline Tax Fund, Healthchoices Behavioral Health Fund, Hotel Room Rental Tax Fund, Grants Revenue Fund, Community Development Fund, Car Rental Tax Fund, Housing Trust Fund, Water Fund, Water Residual Fund, Aviation Fund, and Acute Care Hospital Assessment Fund.

Description of Major Services: With the Central Library and 56 branches citywide, including three larger regional

libraries and the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, the Free Library serves as a resource to thousands of Philadelphia residents.

Performance Trends: The circulation of library books

and other materials has rebounded modestly (2.9%) in the first two quarters of FY15 after the State transferred the circulation of audio tapes from the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped to Pittsburgh in FY14. Visits to the Library are down 1.9% in the first half of FY15 compared to the same period in FY14, reflecting the closure of South Philadelphia branch due to renovations, along with a decrease in

after school programming. The Free Library's virtual visits via the Free Library website and computer usage (within the Free Library) both continued to rise during FY14 and have increased 36.7% year over year. In response to the needs and interests of the citizens of Philadelphia, the Free Library expanded hours of service to six days a week, Monday through Saturday, at 10 branches in February 2013 and offered six days

FIVE-YEAR FINANCIAL AND STRATEGIC PLAN FY16-FY20 LIBRARY service at branches in February 2015. As a result of

these expanded hours, there are more library hours of service in February 2015 than in 2008. The library is currently open for 46 hours per week. The increase in open hours, 4.2% from FY13 to FY14 and 7.4% year over year, is due to the ability to hire more Seasonal Library Assistant's and Library Facility Guards. Computer use at the Free Library has increased slightly from FY13 (0.4%) and year over year (1.9%). Looking

forward to FY16, the Library expects a decrease in circulation, visits, hours open and computer use, mainly attributed to the closure of four branch libraries (Lillian Marrero, Lovett, Logan and Tacony) closing for at least six months and one branch (South Philadelphia) for four months due to the 21st _Century

Libraries Initiative to renovate these libraries (discussed further below).

Performance Measure FY08 FY13 FY14 FY14-FY13 Change FY14 Q1-Q2 Q1-Q2 FY15 FY15- FY14 Q1-Q2 Change FY15

Goal FY16 Goal

Circulation of library materials 7,037,694 6,579,053 6,502,087 -1.2% 3,326,677 3,423,590 2.9% 6,890,000 6,750,000

Visits 6,648,998 5,851,459 5,663,944 -3.2% 2,974,156 2,917,383 -1.9% 5,850,000 5,354,000

Virtual visits via FLP website 4,912,403 7,301,311 8,194,626 12.2% 3,798,705 5,191,771 36.7% 9,200,000 9,450,000

Hours open 110,224 95,769 99,782 4.2% 50,853 54,623 7.4% 110,785 105,285

Computer use within the Free

Library 1,023,577 1,391,347 1,397,116 0.4% 723,996 738,105 1.9% 1,447,116 1,441,116

Accomplishments & Initiatives

Expanded Services and Support for Youth: As of July

15, 2013, through a partnership with the School District of Philadelphia, the Free Library ceased charging fines to children’s materials checked out on children’s cards. This change in policy will encourage children who, through no fault of their own, were previously unable to access library materials due to outstanding fines. The new policy, while not holding children financially responsible for overdue books, still requires materials to be returned before others can be checked out. This initiative was undertaken to help stem the tide of the decline in the number of children who have library cards, which has decreased from 150,000 in 2008 to just over 75,000 in 2014. The Free Library plans to ensure that every public, charter and parochial school student has a library card. As a part of this effort, the Free Library has produced over 98,000 library cards for public school students who were without cards as of April 2014. The Free Library plans to partner with Charter Schools in FY15 and with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in FY16 so that by the end of FY16 all of the approximately 220,000 Philadelphia students in grades K-12 will have library cards.

Read! by 4th: In the fall of 2014, the Free Library was named the backbone organization of the Read! by 4th

campaign. The campaign will work to increase the number of students who can read on grade level by 4th

grade and will mobilize and focus the work of 50 public and private organizations that have agreed to make early literacy a priority. These organizations have worked together to craft a detailed strategy for Philadelphia, aimed at annually increasing the share of students reading at grade level by the time they enter 4th _{grade, with the ultimate goal of doubling the}

students prepared for 4th _{grade school work by 2020.}

Available data indicated that 54% of 3rd _{graders in the}

School District of Philadelphia were not reading on grade level in 2012. The Free Library will take the lead on this campaign by coordinating and driving the process with the partners and by using and improving already successful programming for pre-school and school-aged children.

With the inception of the Free Library’s strategic plan in 2012, the Free Library began honing its work to focus on several key objectives, two of those being services for children under five and family-based

literacy. The Free Library is making concerted efforts to guide much of its customer service, outreach, and programming toward high impact and success in these focus areas. For example, the Free Library’s outreach efforts will target preschool providers and families who most need extra support for family literacy. The Free Library will invite high need families to workshops for parents about preparing for kindergarten, and pre-Kindergarten providers will be invited to professional development workshops on early literacy efforts and family communication tools.

Affordable Care Act Services: Since the kickoff of

healthcare.gov in the fall of 2013, the Free Library has been working to help enroll citizens in health insurance plans, as mandated by the Affordable Care Act. During the 2013-14 enrollment year, more than 35 staff members volunteered to become Certified Application Counselors and worked directly with consumers who needed insurance. Recognizing the importance of providing the service but wanting to offer more intensive expertise, the Free Library partnered with five expert healthcare organizations, for the 2014-15 enrollment year. Services are now being offered in twice as many libraries (21) in areas of greatest demand, connecting library customers with health insurance experts for one-on-one help.

Clustering Libraries: In the last two years, the Free

Library has adopted and begun implementing a new strategic plan and organizational structure focused on customer experience and community engagement. One of the key components of the new structure is the reorganization of the City’s libraries into clusters that

share staff and resources. Particular focus is paid to forging deep relationships with community groups, schools and daycares, civic associations, other city institutions and elected officials in order to access public input and gain a thorough understanding of the services the community needs and wants. This model also provides the opportunity to reach sectors of the public who have not traditionally been library users, such as children under 5 (and their families and school communities), job seekers, and new Americans, bringing the Free Library’s range of services to a larger population. The cluster model allows the library to decentralize programming and focus on what the community determines to be specific, neighborhood- based needs. Over the next several years, each of the 54 libraries in the system will join one of eight clusters which will share staff and services and work to build stronger relationships with the community. Additionally, library services will be realigned to target specific groups, like job seekers, seniors, small businesses, and children, in communities where those services are particularly needed. It is the ongoing goal of the Free Library to meet the ever-changing, 21st

century needs of its customers. The first six- library cluster, up and running since September 2013 as a pilot, is located in north Philadelphia, an area of acute need with high crime and low literacy rates. Two additional neighborhood library clusters were launched in 2014 – in the Lower Northeast and the Far Northeast - and are still finalizing areas of focus but have been primarily serving job seekers and new Americans. Additionally, the Northeast regional library focuses on serving children with autism spectrum disorder and other cognitive impairments because of demonstrated need in these communities. The final five clusters will be in place in fall 2015.

Culinary Literacy Center: As part of the recent

renovations to the Parkway Central library, a new teaching and demonstration kitchen was built to provide culinary literacy classes for children, teens, families, and adults. Programs range from English as a Second Language classes for restaurant workers who are primarily Spanish speaking, to cooking for teens, and began in June 2014. The classes include

FIVE-YEAR FINANCIAL AND STRATEGIC PLAN FY16-FY20 LIBRARY information on nutritional and healthy lifestyle food

preparation, demonstrations and workshops with regional and national chefs. In just the last eight months, the Free Library has formed partnerships with more than 15 organizations, including the Philadelphia Horticultural Society, the Garces Foundation, Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-Cap), and the Center for Literacy, among others, to provide more than 75 programs to more than 1,100 people.

Innovative Approaches to Learning in Partnership: In

FY16, the Free Library and the School District of Philadelphia will form a collaborative partnership that will demonstrate the impact that Free Library programming and services can have on literacy skills by pairing kindergarten and first grade classes in ten schools located throughout the city with neighborhood libraries for many months of intensive programming, regular class visits to the library and librarian visits to the classroom, as well as combined professional development and family engagement efforts. The Department of Education grant supporting this work will also provide more than a $100,000 in technology and book collections for student use.

21st _{Century Libraries: One of the most dynamic ways}

the Free Library can effectively reach its goals and provide excellent service to the citizens of Philadelphia is through its 21st Century Libraries Initiative, a program that aims to eventually renovate each of the 52 neighborhood libraries into state-of-the-art facilities that meet the ever-advancing technological

and literacy-based needs of the public. Each library will have a unique service focus, based on the demand, feedback, and needs of its specific community. In FY16, at least two branches, Logan and Lovett Memorial, will undergo renovations that will focus on family literacy and community engagement, respectively, and the libraries are tentatively scheduled to reopen in the spring of 2017. This project was first supported by the Mayor and City Council with a $4.5 million increase to the Free Library’s capital budget, and a major gift has also been secured from the William Penn Foundation.

2015 Librarian of the Year: Library Journal named

Siobhan Reardon, the President of the Free Library, Librarian of the Year, a prestigious award in the library community. Citing work on an ambitious five-year strategic plan, the award credited her leadership during the Great Recession when funding and hours were significantly reduced. Siobhan streamlined operations and focused limited resources on identified target populations: children under five, new Americans, those with disabilities, job seekers, and entrepreneurs.

Library Improvements: In FY16, the City has continued

its commitment to the branch library improvement program and has recommended the final $1.5 million of its $4.5 million dollar pledge which began in FY13 in the Capital budget. The $4.5 million City investment brought in $22.2 million in private funds to assist with capital improvements at the neighborhood branch libraries. The FY16-FY21 Capital Program recommends out-year funding for HVAC and infrastructure upgrades and other interior and exterior renovations such as roof replacements at library branches.