The Pratt Library’s new leader traveled to Asia and Africa last year on library donations

When Chad Helton took the reins of Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library in late 2024, he said he would focus on the needs of the city.

Helton, who took an unconventional path to library leadership, touted his work in a previous job in Los Angeles to use library property to house the homeless, and promised a similar community-driven focus in Baltimore.

In the year since, however, Helton’s attention has been focused on the library’s reputation far beyond Baltimore. Last year, Helton and his staff took three international trips in the span of three months — first to Egypt, then China, then Japan — using $45,000 in funds donated to the library.

The trips come as the library’s budget has otherwise been pinched. The Pratt’s trustee funds, which were used for Helton’s travel, were slashed by $2.5 million between the last fiscal year and the current one, which began July 1. The library’s summer reading program, Bookmobile and collection development efforts were all reduced.

Nonetheless, library officials defended Helton’s travel, which they say was part of the Pratt’s global engagement strategy, aimed at gathering information on how to navigate challenges faced by libraries and positioning the Pratt as a “global collaborator.” And one expert said bolstering the Pratt’s international reputation benefits the library and city.

Representatives for 300 of the Pratt’s workers argue the travel is excessive in an era where budgets are tightening at all levels of government. The Pratt relies on state and local sources for 80% of its funding, although library officials say Helton’s travel was not paid with public funds.

Megan Royden, president of AFSCME Local 6359, which represents employees of four Maryland library systems, including the Pratt, argued that the money could have been spent more effectively. The leaders of other libraries where the union represents employees in Anne Arundel, Frederick and Howard counties aren’t undertaking such far-flung trips, Royden noted.

“I would think coming into a system like this, you want to prioritize working from the ground up, building your community from the smallest out,” Royden said. “It would not be my priority to work on the global engagement right away before getting to know your own neighborhoods, your community, your staff.”

Library leaders initially said the money used for the trip was part of a fund “designated to support” the library’s global engagement, but later noted the money was part of a $60,000 pot budgeted for the CEO’s discretionary use.

“The CEO discretionary funds are used on special projects that the CEO believes would be beneficial to the library,” said spokesman Nestor Diaz.

Diaz declined to say whether the fund was restricted to only travel use.

Christine Espenshade, chair of the library’s board of directors and board of trustees, said no public dollars or operating funds were used for the travel. Espenshade declined to say who donated the funds, but said the Pratt spends $5 million to $8 million annually in private contributions.

In fiscal year 2025, when Helton took one of the trips, 18% of the Pratt’s $57 million budget was privately funded, according to the library’s annual report.

Other library officials accompanied Helton on his travels, although library spokespeople also refused to specify their names. Beginning June 21 and returning June 29, a library delegation including Helton, an archivist and two members of the Pratt leadership team visited Alexandria and Cairo, Egypt.

Just two weeks later, Helton departed for Xiamen, China, Baltimore’s partner city through the exchange program Sister Cities International. During that nine-day trip, Helton was accompanied by the Maryland state librarian as well as a Pratt archivist, three members of Pratt leadership, six city school students and four chaperones. The cost of the school participants was not paid by the library, Espenshade said.

One month later, on Aug. 23, Helton and three members of his leadership team headed to Kawasaki, Japan, for an eight-day trip.

Espenshade said all three trips “play an important role in strengthening the global library network.” The library forged a new partnership with the University of Cairo as a result of the trip to Egypt and continued an ongoing collaboration with the Xiamen Library and Xiamen International Book Company, she said.

The partnerships have increased access to materials, like a new central library collection of contemporary books from other countries, and helped to share Baltimore’s history internationally, Espenshade said. She pointed out that the trip comes at a time when libraries are “navigating complex issues such as book bans, access to materials and community trust.”

“Building on the Library’s recent welcoming of a delegation from China, these visits allowed for the Enoch Pratt Free Library, our nationally recognized, major public library system, to learn from and contribute to conversations on best practices in libraries with the added intention of strengthening relationships with our international library peers,” Helton said in a statement.

Amid Helton’s travels, some of the library’s most recognizable programs were slashed.

The trustees’ budget, from which Helton’s travel was paid, also covers the library’s summer reading program, which gives away books to city children. The program was cut by more than $215,000 between fiscal year 2025 and 2026. The Bookmobile, a mobile library with community Wi-Fi, was cut by $231,000, and children’s programming was cut by 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.

Diaz said the budget was cut to “spend at a sustainable level.” Asked if Helton considered using the travel money to offset any of the cuts, Diaz said the CEO’s funds are typically used for “one-time strategic opportunities or innovations.”

Royden, president of the union representing Pratt workers, said she would prefer to see Helton focus on the library’s priorities closer to home. Employees of the Pratt, who finalized their first contract late last year, are in the midst of negotiating a cost-of-living wage increase for library employees, a boost that could be funded, in part, by an additional $45,000.

Royden questioned if Helton’s global agenda could have been pursued via remote meetings.

“We’ve never had a time where we could communicate through Zoom as easily as we can now,” she said. “I imagine it’s easier to communicate in person, but is that the best use of this fund?”

While the Pratt receives the bulk of its funding from public sources, it’s considered a quasi-governmental organization, and is governed by a board.

Some Pratt operations are still subject to city oversight. The Baltimore City Council holds a hearing on the city portion of the Pratt budget each year, and Baltimore pays two-thirds of Helton’s $275,000 salary.

Baltimore requires its employees and officeholders to notify the city spending board of travel, including trips paid for by outside entities. Helton’s travel, however, was not reviewed by the board.

Library officials said they were told by the Comptroller’s office that Helton’s travel did not need Board of Estimates approval because it 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.

Roger Hartley, a professor of public and international affairs at the University of Baltimore, said the lack of transparency concerning the travel only becomes a problem if the donor or donors who backed the trip have a conflict of interest, such as a contract with the library system.

“What do we know about this donor? What are their motivations?” Hartley said. “Who created this fund and is there any ethical problem there that would need to be disclosed?”

Libraries are global institutions, and an international visit helps to put the Pratt, and Baltimore, on the map, Hartley said.

Espenshade said Helton has no international trips planned for the coming year, although there is money set aside in the library’s budget for him and other staff members to attend conferences for professional development.

That travel will not be paid with public funds, she said.

Baltimore Banner reporter Justin Fenton contributed to this report.