$112 Billion in Deferred Maintenance on Campuses, $32 Billion in Libraries, and the Clock Is Ticking.

A number worth paying attention to surfaced in December 2025, when the U.S. Government Accountability Office published the first comprehensive national study of public library building conditions in decades (GAO-26-107262). The finding: an estimated 70% of America’s public libraries—roughly 11,200 buildings—have a backlog of deferred maintenance and repair. Nearly 40% have at least one major building system in poor condition. And 70% of those libraries expect the backlog to stay the same or get worse over the next three years.

On the higher education side, the numbers tell a parallel story. The deferred maintenance backlog across U.S. colleges and universities now exceeds $100 billion, compounding at 6–8% annually while institutional budgets grow at 2–3% (Bloomberg, APPA Facilities Index). The average campus asset is 62 years old.

These numbers represent real places: the buildings where students learn, where communities gather, where faculty work, and where patrons access resources they can’t get anywhere else. For the facilities leaders, library directors, and administrators responsible for these spaces, the question isn’t whether there’s a gap between what the buildings need and what budgets can support. The question is what to do about it.

Beyond the Repair Bill

Deferred maintenance has a compounding quality that makes it particularly consequential for institutional budgets. The commonly cited figure in facilities management is that every dollar of maintenance deferred today becomes four dollars of capital renewal later (APPA/NACUBO). A roof that needs $50,000 in preventive work this year can become a $200,000 emergency replacement in three years, plus whatever damage the failing roof causes to the interior, the collections, or the equipment underneath it.

But the impact extends beyond the repair bill. For universities, the condition of campus facilities plays a meaningful role in enrollment and retention. Students and prospective families factor campus environment into their decisions. Faculty candidates weigh the quality of their work environment. In a landscape where the post-2008 enrollment cliff is already reducing the traditional-age college population, the condition of facilities becomes part of the competitive equation.

For libraries, the impact shows up differently but carries similar weight. The GAO report (GAO-26-107262) found that 61% of public libraries have at least one building system or feature that poses a potential health or safety concern, and 43% have a physical barrier to accessibility. These conditions directly affect who can use the space, how the space functions, and whether the library can fulfill the expanded role that communities increasingly depend on.

Three Converging Forces

Several factors are converging to make this a particularly important moment for institutional facilities leaders.

The funding landscape is challenging. Public libraries receive about 86% of their funding from local sources—city and county budgets, bond elections, and local levies (GAO-26-107262). Federal funding through IMLS supports programming and services but is currently prohibited from funding construction or repairs. On the higher education side, state capital appropriations for public institutions have been declining in real terms for years, and when funding does materialize, institutions have historically prioritized new construction over maintenance of existing assets.

Building lifecycles are converging. The construction booms of the 1960s and early 2000s produced a wave of institutional buildings that are now reaching the critical 25- and 50-year renewal thresholds at the same time. HVAC systems, roofing, plumbing, electrical, and technology infrastructure—these are systems that require significant investment when they reach end-of-life, and deferring that investment typically increases the eventual cost.

Institutional missions have expanded while buildings have remained largely the same. Libraries originally designed for book storage are now supporting 3D printing, workforce development, digital access, community programming, and emergency services—all of which demand power, data, and wireless infrastructure that the original buildings were never designed to accommodate. University buildings designed for lecture-style instruction are being called on to support collaborative learning, hybrid technology, AV-equipped flexible classrooms, and modern research environments. The gap between how these buildings were designed and how they’re being used continues to grow, and technology integration is often where that gap is felt most acutely.

How Leading Institutions Are Responding

The institutions navigating this landscape most effectively share a few common approaches.

They’re starting with data (like conducting space utilization studies, commissioning facility condition assessments) and building a clear picture of which buildings are performing well and which need attention. Effective prioritization starts with understanding what’s actually there.

They’re thinking in phases. Rather than waiting for enough funding to address everything at once, they’re identifying high-impact projects that can be completed within current budget realities, and using those completed projects to build momentum and support for the next phase of investment.

They’re treating interior work as a strategic tool. In many cases, a well-planned interior renovation—coordinated furniture systems, reliable wireless connectivity, accessible power throughout the space, AV systems that support both in-person and hybrid use, and data infrastructure to support evolving digital programming—can meaningfully improve how a building performs without touching the structural envelope. This includes the kind of technology integration that today’s users expect. That approach represents a fraction of the cost of new construction, and it delivers results that people using the space experience immediately.

And they’re bringing interior design and FF&E expertise into the conversation early, before key decisions get locked in. Institutions that plan their interiors alongside their structural work, rather than treating it as a final step, consistently achieve stronger outcomes and better cost control—whether the project is a library branch renovation, a campus dining facility overhaul, or a civic building modernization.

Looking Ahead

The deferred maintenance challenge facing libraries and universities is real, and the data confirms what many facilities leaders have known for years. The GAO report (GAO-26-107262), the higher education research (APPA, NACUBO, Bloomberg), and the fiscal realities facing institutional budgets all underscore the same point: the gap between building needs and available resources require a more strategic approach.

That doesn’t necessarily mean bigger budgets. It means smarter priorities. It means understanding which investments—in how spaces are configured, how they support the people who use them, and how they adapt to changing institutional needs—deliver the highest impact for the dollars available. And it means recognizing that how a building performs on the inside—how it functions, how it supports its mission, how it serves its users—is just as important as the condition of its structural systems.

The institutions that approach their facilities strategically—with good data, phased plans, and a clear focus on how spaces actually need to perform—are the ones best positioned to serve their communities well into the future.

References

U.S. Government Accountability Office. “Public Library Buildings: Most Have a Deferred Maintenance Backlog.” GAO-26-107262. December 2025. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107262

Association of Physical Plant Administrators (APPA). “Facilities Performance Indicators Report.” Annual. https://www.appa.org

National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO). Deferred maintenance and institutional budget research. https://www.nacubo.org

Bloomberg. Higher education deferred maintenance backlog reporting. https://www.bloomberg.com

National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA). Higher education funding and infrastructure data. https://www.nasfaa.org

National Public Radio (NPR). Library infrastructure and deferred maintenance coverage. https://www.npr.org

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