The Port Richmond library has finally reopened with a new roof and fresh honeybees
The Free Library branch had been closed since December while it underwent a Rebuild renovation project.
When the Richmond Library closed in December, the bees died.
Inside the Port Richmond Free Library branch, a window had been outfitted to house a bee colony, complete with a queen lording over honey production. But throughout last fall, Richmond Library began a pattern of closing, opening, and closing again because of problems with its geriatric HVAC and crumbling roof. Just before Christmas, it closed indefinitely.
Amy Thatcher, the branch manager, couldn’t get into the building as it underwent an extensive renovation through the city’s Rebuild initiative. She is a beekeeper, too, and couldn’t take the bees into the branch’s outdoor hive for winter hibernation before they died off.
The branch was closed for eight months, leaving a hole in the Port Richmond community that loves its library and its offerings. But last week, the branch reopened to the public, who celebrated with hugs, tears, and baked goods. The bees are back, too.
“It’s just like something out of a fairy tale,” Thatcher said. She recalled how one toddler who visited on the first day kept saying the word “open” over and over as he looked around the building. His mother teared up and told Thatcher how grateful she was.
“We knew the community cared. We know how active the community is in Richmond doings and their response to our programs. But we weren’t really ready for people to come in and hug and start to cry. The emotional intensity of it was something we never experienced before,” she said.
‘The heart of the community’
Richmond Library began a nearly $2 million roof renovation project in February 2024 through Rebuild, a citywide initiative to repair and reinvest in public spaces paid for by the soda tax. But the project stalled as the roof and other parts of the building deteriorated, and materials weren’t delivered on time.
In late July, Thatcher said, she and other Richmond staff were notified that construction was finished, the HVAC had been replaced, and they were allowed back into the building. While Richmond was closed, the staff worked at different branches, and many hadn’t seen each other in months.
» READ MORE: The Port Richmond library is closed again, as Rebuild roof project stalls
The staff were told they had two weeks to get the branch ready for visitors. That included unpacking supplies and moving furniture, reinstalling computers, and sorting the new books and other materials that had come in.
Richmond held an unpublicized soft opening on Aug. 18, but word got around quickly that visitors could return. Dozens came on the first day, showing their love for the branch and its staff, carrying cookies and cakes. A local beekeeper donated a fresh hive of honeybees to help bring the building back to life.
“We are delighted to be open to the public, with a new roof and new HVAC system. Every library is a vital community hub, and the Port Richmond community loves, cares for, and relies on this library,” said Free Library of Philadelphia spokesperson Mark Graham in an email. The library is now open Monday through Saturday, and will hold a ribbon-cutting Sept. 10.
Lhianna Bodiford was walking her dogs past the library last week when she was shocked to see people entering its doors. She visited the next day with her kids and said they had all been waiting eagerly for it to reopen.
“I’ve always felt like, the whole time I’ve lived here, that the library really made the neighborhood,” she said.
Bodiford has lived in Port Richmond for 20 years, and said the library is a kind of “sanctuary” for the community. Richmond offers more than a standard library does — it hosts movie nights, magic shows, chamber orchestra concerts, and an annual dinosaur party for kids. It displays pre-Revolutionary War artifacts, has a National Wildlife Federation-certified pollinator garden, and is breastfeeding-friendly.
Bodiford’s 9-year-old, who will check out more books than she can carry, and her 17-year-old, interested in manga and the LGBT section, both feel welcome there. Bodiford teaches extracurricular math and uses the library to study or find new math theory books.
“There’s not a lot in Port Richmond. It’s very residential, and it was always nice to be able to just walk two blocks and go to the library ...that just adds a lot of value to living here,” Bodiford said.
When Kelly Nichols brings her sons to the Richmond Library, her 4-year-old likes to look at the beehive up close, while her 2-year-old is obsessed with a book they discovered about a fire hydrant searching for meaning in his life. They were crushed when the library closed, and it just wasn’t the same when they visited another nearby branch.
She said her family has felt welcome in the library, even when the kids were being “loud and wild.”
Nichols said that it’s one of the rare third spaces today, where you can meet people you never would have otherwise. “It’s really like the heart of the community,” she said.
“Hopefully it stays open consistently and the roof stays up,” she joked.