Pratt Library Staff Demand Transparency Over CEO Travel, Program Cuts

Enoch Pratt Free Library staff are demanding answers about how donated and trustee funds are being spent after CEO Helton and library employees took three international trips in the span of three months, spending $45,000 in donated money on travel to Egypt, China, and Japan, even as the library slashed core programs serving Baltimore children.

The same trustee budget that paid for Helton's travel also funds the library's summer reading program, which gives away books to city children. That program was cut by more than $215,000 between fiscal year 2025 and 2026. The Bookmobile, a mobile library with community Wi-Fi that serves neighborhoods across Baltimore, was cut by $231,000. Children's programming lost nearly $20,000. More than $1.5 million that had been dedicated to building the library's collection in fiscal year 2025 was cut in half. Overall, the Pratt's trustee funds were slashed by $2.5 million between the last fiscal year and the current one, which began July 1.

A library spokesperson identified as Diaz said the budget was cut to "spend at a sustainable level." Asked whether Helton considered redirecting the travel money to offset any of the program reductions, Diaz said the CEO's funds are typically reserved for "one-time strategic opportunities or innovations."

Employee concerns intensified following the arrival of new leadership, with staff calling for transparency about how donor and trustee funds are allocated and spent.

The travel also raised oversight questions. Baltimore requires its employees and officeholders to notify the city spending board of travel paid for by outside entities, but Helton's trips were not reviewed by the Board of Estimates. Library officials said the Comptroller's office told them Board approval was not required because the travel was not funded by the city. City attorneys said Helton and other library employees are not considered traditional city employees because the library was established via a "testamentary gift" from businessman Enoch Pratt.

That legal distinction, however, does not place the Pratt entirely beyond municipal accountability. Baltimore pays two-thirds of Helton's $275,000 salary, and the Baltimore City Council holds an annual hearing on the city portion of the Pratt's budget. Whether those financial ties are sufficient to trigger stronger oversight of how trustee and donor funds are used, particularly as front-line services shrink, is now a question staff are pressing the institution to answer publicly.