Last summer, Enoch Pratt Free Library President Chad Helton racked up roughly $45,000 in travel, jetting to libraries in Egypt, China, and Japan on donor-controlled funds. Now that globe-trotting tab is coming under fire from staff and neighborhood leaders in West Baltimore, who say that money should have gone toward something far closer to home: getting people with disabilities through the front door of the Pennsylvania Avenue branch.
According to FOX45 News, Pratt confirmed that Helton used $45,000 from a discretionary donor fund he controls to pay for the trips. Helton told the station the travel "allowed him to learn about other libraries" and was intended to build relationships with international peers. FOX45 reports he spent eight days in Egypt in June, flew to China two weeks later, then headed to Japan for another eight days in August. The explanation has not cooled the frustration among employees or neighborhood organizers.
Why Penn-North Residents Are Angry
The Pennsylvania Avenue branch is still a stair-only building and is labeled "Not ADA Accessible" on Pratt’s official location page, a status that residents say effectively shuts out seniors, people with mobility impairments, and parents with strollers. The branch did get renovations in 2023, but the Pratt site continues to note that ramps or lifts are not available. For neighbors, that standing disclaimer has become a glaring backdrop to the library president’s international excursions.
Union And Neighborhood Reaction
Leaders of the library employees’ union have criticized the international travel as excessive, and neighborhood activists say it looks especially out of touch when a local branch still lacks accessible entry. "They are breaking the law by not having handicap accessibility for the library because of the type of building the library is...and the fact that he’s going around enjoying himself with the money, it's sad that here we are," Marvin "Doc" Cheatham, president of the Matthew Henson Neighborhood Association, told FOX45 News.
Legal Questions And What The ADA Requires
Federal rules under the Americans with Disabilities Act require public entities to run their services and programs so they are readily accessible to people with disabilities, while allowing limited exceptions for older facilities where full structural compliance is not practicable. That so-called program access standard, along with the Department of Justice’s Title II guidance, will likely be the playbook if advocates push for fixes or consider enforcement options, as outlined on ADA.gov.
What To Watch Next
Neighbors and union leaders say they plan to keep pressing the Pratt board and donors for concrete accessibility improvements at the Pennsylvania Avenue branch, and library leadership has signaled it will hold town halls at branches to hear community concerns. For now, it is still unclear whether restrictions on the discretionary donor fund would allow the library to use that money for capital accessibility projects. The board and donors may end up holding the real power over how this plays out, and residents say they will be looking for specific commitments, not just meetings.
