Between June and August, the Troy Public Library’s downtown branch had 34 unplanned closures. Children’s programs, summer reading, and auxiliary services were all canceled for large chunks of the summer because the building was simply too hot.
Built in 1897, the branch was one of the last public libraries in the state without air conditioning. Troy Library Executive Director Tim Furgal says while the closures were happening during the especially hot 2025 summer, he and the library’s board looked into industrial cooling solutions. But he said that would have cost $50,000 a day before factoring in the expense to run a generator and the increased load of electricity.
“Being able to keep our doors open and allow people the ability to walk into a place and to be able to cool off and not need to spend any money, is part of the value of the library,” Furgal said. “It’s one of the last places in a community where you can just walk in and no one expects you to buy anything, to purchase anything, and especially during the summer months, to be able to provide and act as a cooling station to the community. I think will be a really great service.”…