December 12, 2025
Provided Image/Save the Cecil B. Moore Library Coalition
A conflict over the future of the Cecil B. Moore Library, above, will continue into next year after community members and Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr. were unable to come to an agreement in 2025.
As 2025 comes to a close, the debate over the future of the Cecil B. Moore Library stands more or less exactly where it did when the year began: with community members calling for fixing up the existing North Philly structure and Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr. pushing for a new building.
"The library is a well-loved institution and it deserves to be maintained in its current location as a staple on Ridge Avenue in the community," said Sydney Polinchock, a lead at the Sunrise Movement advocacy organization who was one of many people who spoke during a Dec. 4 public comment session.
Young replied in his speech that day: "My position has been clear and remains clear, I think our students, our children, deserve the very best, and so I have a couple of questions for advocates, like 'Why should we support inadequate public facilities in our city? ... And most importantly, why should we support the marginalization of Black and Brown children in North Philadelphia? Because that's what this issue comes down to for me."
Young (D-5th) and community members have been at odds for over a year about what to do with the institution, which needs a number of repairs including a new HVAC system. Young has continually pushed for a facility with new technology amenities. Members of the Save the Cecil B. Moore Library Coalition, meanwhile, want to move forward with plans to upgrade the existing space.
Advocates began on the design process with the city's Rebuild program in 2022, and the project was supposed to begin construction in the summer of 2024. But Young pushed back the date to raise more money for additional amenities, and the conflict came to a head in February and March, when Young proposed a new mixed-use build with affordable housing, an idea that was rejected by constituents. Renovation plans are complete, but the coalition needs Young to sign a Notice to Proceed before work can begin.
With both parties needing each other for support, neither side has been able to move forward and the battle will continue into 2026.
From Young's perspective, the current building doesn't have enough space for technology upgrades. Young, who declined to be interviewed, has said he thinks the new build will embrace the future and not leave residents "stuck in 1961," when the library was built.
But Polinchock said she believes that the council member isn't "dreaming big enough" with the existing space. The Rebuild plans call for adding an elevator for accessibility, a bigger kitchen and a redo of the teen space, alongside the HVAC system repairs. She thinks the basement could be converted into a computer lab.
But as the conflict continues, she worries that the building's condition will worsen.
"Our fear is that if we keep pushing off the renovations, it'll get to a point where it has to close completely, and at this point, there's no backup plan," Polinchock told PhillyVoice. "Our fear really is that the community will be left with nowhere to go because this unwillingness to give in to the community's desires is making it so the situation is getting more dire."
Paul Brown, a high school psychologist and member of the Brewerytown/Sharswood Neighborhood Coalition, said he's concerned about the lack of "third spaces," where people can gather outside of work or home. He said many of the teenagers he works with struggle to find spots to hang out, but they do have the library.
Brown worries that the new building would take years to construct, and that the community wouldn't have a library in the interim. And he also thinks the debate between officials and constituents is part of a larger fight against gentrification and development in the neighborhood that he wants to preserve.
"Although old, it's mighty, and it has a history and it's just socially important for people to have access to," Brown said.
In the new year, Young's office said he plans to continue meeting with community groups and city departments, and he recently introduced a measure for City Council to hold a hearing on the condition of city libraries. The coalition, meanwhile, plans to hold more town halls and community meetings and will keep canvassing for their cause.
"We're just continuing to spread the word and show up and kind of be annoying until our council member gets the job done," Polinchock said. "That is our job as constituents, as citizens, to make sure that we fight for the world we want to see."
