Catfish Chronicle, Issue 11, Winter 2026

Happy Spring, Friends!

A bit unbelievable that after two recent snow storms, we find ourselves at the ledge of March 21 st and the arrival of Spring.

For those who have not yet heard the news, our district Councilman Curtis Jones pledged $500,000 at our Annual Meeting in December for a new HVAC system and an upgrade to an ADA compliant rest room on the lower level of the library adjacent to the Meeting Room. The letter has been signed and the funds have been earmarked from the city budget into the budget of Property Management of the Free Library of Philadelphia.

To all our Friends and neighbors who advocated for funds, attended community meetings, signed the petition that our advocacy committee circulated …a BIG THANK YOU! We could not have done this without you. And a special thank you to our advocacy team who wrote, circulated, and presented that petition to Councilman Curtis Jones at the Annual Meeting.

We look forward to getting the new system installed. While we anticipate the installation of a new HVAC system, we are highly conscious that our dear library is an old building, and so may have other needs on the horizon. The city and Parkway Central are quite aware of this too.

Back in August, there was a Building Assessment meeting with architects who have worked with upgrading Carnegie libraries, staff from the Free Library’s Property Management department, library staff and myself. In August, there was a “walk-through” to assess the condition of the building and all facilities. The team, also assessed the conditions of 9 other library branches which would culminate in a Facilities Condition Assessment (FCA) Report. As you can imagine, it would take some time to produce that written report on ten libraries, but just this morning, Branch Manager Jenn Estepp, Friends Building Committee Chair Rich Matkowski, and myself met with Ty DuPass (Deputy Director Property Management City of Philadelphia and FLP) and Jonathan Brous (Building Maintenance Engineer of the FLP) and other library staff to get the results of the report which covered items categorized in three levels of priority: high, medium and low or long-term. And of course, getting a new HVAC system came in as the #1 priority. With the data in the report now in hand, we can take a more proactive stance in addressing building needs.

DuPass shared that in the “timeline” of things, Property Management is in the process of soliciting bids for the HVAC work to be done. When a vendor is selected, it then moves to a design stage of ordering all that is needed to complete the project. Based on his experience of what is happening at other library branches the estimate for this time might be anywhere from 8 to 10 (and up to 18) weeks. It is then anticipated that the installation itself might commence in mid to late summer into the Fall and taking 2-3 months to complete the installation. This timeline is tentative and could change as the process occurs.

Since the FCA Report also covered lower priority projects that DuPass referred to as “low hanging fruit”, some discussion ensued regarding collaborating on landscaping as well as cleaning of leaves and debris from behind the grated windows especially the high window on the Midvale side of the building. Rich Matkowski also noted that the grates are so old that they are rusted and corroded and so the project will also include cleaning and painting of the grates.

In the meantime, it is time to welcome Spring, and participate in some of the wonderful programs and events happening at the library: Author events such as the Jack McCarthy – A Century of Music Under the Stars (about the history of the Mann Music Center on April 14 at 5:30 pm), Board Game Cafés, Book clubs , Fiber Arts, Sit and Stitch, Story times, Writing groups, Yoga, etc. Be sure to put the Spring Book and Bake Sale April 29-May 2 on your calendar! And somewhere in there, stop by the branch to celebrate National Library Week April 19-26. This year’s theme is “Find Your Joy!” There are so many ways our beloved Falls of Schuylkill fuels our reading pleasures, sparks life-long learning, and creates a sense of community. Kudos to our wonderful library staff, our library patrons, our Friends. See you in the library!

Warmly,
Jenna

Jenna Musket, President
Friends of Falls of Schuylkill Library