On the South Milwaukee Library and Senior Center

Government, and governing, is about choices. I wish it wasn’t — I always prefer “both-and” vs. “either-or” debates, and those are still sometimes possible — but choices have to be made when it comes to where taxpayer dollars should be invested. In an era of increasingly constrained budgets, these decisions are increasingly difficult. Cuts more often have real impact. As dollars are saved, services are impacted. The fat in most muncipal budgets, especially South Milwaukee, is long gone.

Which brings me to what’s happening with two South Milwaukee institutions: the South Milwaukee Public Library and Grobschmidt Senior Center.

Senior Center

First, the Senior Center. Last week, the city announced it will permanently close the facility at the end of the year, linking the resulting cost savings to the decision to contract with the City of Oak Creek for dispatch services starting in 2025. I support this decision.

The city allocates nearly $150,000 to the Senior Center each year, which is hard to justify given its declining membership (it serves just 225 people) and the fact that the majority of those members reside outside the city. Consider: The center costs the city $1,419.54 per South Milwaukee member, acording to the city. It costs $7.34 per South Milwaukee resident.

Also working against the center: Milwaukee County operates its Kelly Senior Center less than three miles away — offering similar services — and longtime South Milwaukee Senior Center Director Sandy Quinlan is retiriing at the end of the year. Now is the time to do it.

Here is the council and Mayor Jim Shelenske’s letter to the community on the issue …

Reallocating more than $560,000 to dispatch costs is a big investment, but a worthy one I fought hard for as mayor. We need to make it, and that money has to come from somewhere.

And while I wish the city wouldn’t directly link the senior center closure to dispatch costs — budgeting is more complicated than a binary choice across two very different city government functions — the need to find extra funding is real. It’s the right choice.

South Milwaukee Library

The future of the library is more nuanced, complex and critical to the larger community.

The South Milwaukee City Council on Tuesday, June 4 — meeting time is 7 p.m. at City Hall — will be considering a “motion to approve a scope of services outline from the Wisconsin Policy Forum in an amount not to exceed $14,500 to explore options for library services in the City of South Milwaukee.” Specifically, the Forum would look at:

• Covering needed capital improvements with grant funding and attempting to function with the operating budget allocated by the city
• Renting part of the library building out but continuing to operate there
• Holding an operational referendum that asks citizens to allow the city to exceed state-imposed property tax levy limits to appropriately fund SMPL
• Closing the SMPL and pursuing a consolidated library with one or more other south shore communities
• Closing the SMPL entirely and paying an annual fee to MCFLS to ensure access to other municipal libraries in Milwaukee County for South Milwaukee citizens.

Here is the information the city shared on its website last week …

I support the study. After years of increasingly tight budgets, belt tightening and service reductions, it is time to explore options — and, more importantly, best practices and how we might employ them in South Milwaukee — for our library. And the Policy Forum is the right organization to do it. It is a trusted, local, and independent source that will provide what we need for a way forward.

I hope the Policy Forum asks me what I think. Here is what I would tell them.

Libraries define communities. Think of what nearly every city, village or town, from the smallest to the largest, has: A library. Why? They are public places in an inceasingly connected yet disconnected world, providing essential services that have the ability to touch residents of every age.

It was that way in 1917, when the South Milwaukee Library was founded. It’s even more so today.

I really liked this description from the National Endowment for the Humanities …

There aren’t many truly public places left in America. Most of our shared spaces require money or a certain social status to access. Malls exist to sell people things. Museums discourage loiterers. Coffee shops expect patrons to purchase a drink or snack if they want to enjoy the premises. One place, though, remains open to everybody. The public library requires nothing of its visitors: no purchases, no membership fees, no dress code. You can stay all day, and you don’t have to buy anything. … In a country riven by racial, ethnic, political, and socioeconomic divides, libraries still welcome everyone.

Put another way, from the article, libraries are “social infrastructure … the physical spaces and organizations that shape the way people interact.”

They are also increasingly everything to everyone, and it’s about way more than checking out physical books. They are job centers, copy centers, meeting venues, Blockbuster Video stores (apologies to anyone under the age of 40 reading this; learn more here), Netflix, and WiFi hot spots.

They are also Google, but smarter and more personal. Researching your genealogy? Have questions about consumer issues, technology or your health? That and plenty more is available through free library databases.

Then there is the programming calendar, hundreds of offerings throughout the year for kids to seniors. Get your blood pressure screened, take a Barre fitness class, have a teen Nerf war, and join the weekly “Music and Movement” storytime. Meet with Lego Club and STEAM Club, and there is teen anime and a magician. Try fiber art and learn about the history of Continental Tile in South Milwaukee.

And that’s just in June.

Libraries can also be the keeper of a community’s history and help tell that history story. Ours does it better than most. Have you clicked on the Local History link on the South Milwaukee Library website recently, to see their work as South Milwaukee archivist? Do it now. I’ll wait …

[Waiting as you check out the digital collection of yearbooks, newspapers, government documents, historical photos, telephone directories, written histories, Spectacle of Music programs and more]

And it’s all free. That’s what makes libraries so critical, especially now, especially here.

South Milwaukee families are struggling. More than 13% of residents are in poverty in our city, according to the U.S. Census. And well over half of all South Milwaukee School District students qualify for free or reduced lunch, signifiying some sort of economic challenge.

They are welcome at the library. All are welcome at the library. Even those from the nearly 700 South Milwaukee households in our city without a computer, and from the nearly 900 households without broadband. The 2,000+ people with a disability in South Milwaukee? The 1,500+ residents without a high school degree? The 2,300+ who speak a language other than English at home? Come on in! There is something for you here.

The library offers plenty of data points in annual report (see below). A sampling from 2023:

• 53,369 patron visits
• 37,599 website visits
• 21,33 electronic items checked out
• 7,305 participants in 229 programs
• 7,283 reference transactions
• 6,231 patron uses of 15 public computers
• 3,277 WiFi connections

And maybe most importantly: 4,817 residents with library cards, almost 24% of our population.

But this is about more than numbers. It’s about serving the community, the entire community — and what it would mean if that service was no longer there, or diminished in a major way.

Here is a message the South Milwaukee Library shared last week …

There has been a lot of misinformation shared about our library on social media lately. As information professionals, we want to share some facts. This is our 2023 Annual Report which shows our library’s usage for the past year. The City of South Milwaukee is facing significant budget constraints and these affect the library. This coming Tuesday, June 4th, the South Milwaukee Common Council will look at an agenda item to consider a third party study that will evaluate library services in South Milwaukee and present suggestions for library services moving forward.

If the library were to close, and the city still wanted to offer library services to its citizens through allowing them to utilize neighboring libraries, based on current library usage and the population size of South Milwaukee, it would cost the city $1.2 million annually. The library’s budget for 2024 is approximately $690,000. We are confident that no one WANTS to close the library; however, we might need to relocate in order to save funds. Other solutions could be identified from the study.

If you want to support the library, the most important thing you can do is get a library card and use your library! It’s also important to come into the library, look around, check out materials, or attend a program. All of these things are free and are important data points for the library to show its value.

If you want to do more, you can join the Friends of the South Milwaukee Public Library. Membership costs $5 for a single membership or $10 for a family membership. If you want to do even more, you can donate to the library here: https://countycat.mcfls.org/screens/donate.html

We are committed to serving the community of South Milwaukee, and thank you for your support.

You’re welcome.

I am sure the city council and mayor will hear quite a bit from residents on Tuesday about the importance of the library, and what would happen if it closed or if something resembling closure came of this effort. Good. They should be reminded of that.

Indeed, if there is anything good coming from this sobering fiscal reality and resulting study, it’s that community conversation. Let’s get the data and other information we need to have that dialogue. And then let’s have it — never forgetting just what libraries mean to communities like ours.