April 15, 2026
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
Saturday hours are resuming at all but two of the Free Library of Philadelphia's branches.
The Free Library of Philadelphia is fully resuming Saturday hours for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic, and now the system is looking into restoring Sunday openings, too.
On Saturday, 52 of 54 locations will be open to the public. The two neighborhood branches that will remain closed are Dwight Evans Library in West Oak Lane, which is undergoing HVAC repairs, and the Library of Accessible Media for Pennsylvanians, a specialty branch which serves people who can't read standard print.
"We're really excited to be able to be available to people who are working during the week or going to school during the week, and (for them) to be able to enjoy the library," said Mark Graham, the communications director for the Free Library.
The system has been slowly bringing back Saturday hours at specific branches. At the end of January, over 80% were on six-day a week schedules. Since then, seven more branches have added weekend hours.
Graham said that library officials are now looking into the possibility of Sunday hours at nine branches, although there's no timeline for that yet.
The Saturday openings were made possible through funding increases in the city's budget over the past few years, Graham said. That money was put toward facility improvements and hiring over 300 new staffers, allowing locations to be open on Saturdays. The Free Library employs over 900 people, and Mayor Cherelle Parker's 2027 budget would allow for an additional 100, Graham said.
The Free Library first began reducing Saturday hours in 2018 following budget cuts. They stopped completely in 2020 as the entire system closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Weekday hours resumed in 2020 and 2021, and Saturday hours began returning on a rolling basis in 2023.
In 2025, library officials said they intended to release a strategic plan for its future of operations following a series of town halls and a public survey. That was initially set for release in February, and the Free Library said it doesn't have a new timeline yet for its publication.
