MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Community meetings are coming to every single Milwaukee Public Library branch. MPL is preparing for potentially significant cuts in the city's next budget cycle — if the money allotted is not enough to continue current services.
Dubbed "community conversations" the discussions are being held at MPL's 12 branch locations, and Central Library, between now and June. The library director says the goal is to understand why your library is important to you and what role it serves in your neighborhood. It will help library leaders if they have to make some difficult decisions — like cutting services or even closing a branch.
MPL's director, Joan Johnson, says people of all ages and from all walks of life have turned up at the first few meetings, but she's especially encouraged to see young people speaking up.
"They talked about how they feel safer in the library, they come to the library as a safe place," Johnson recalled. "So I was so happy to get that feedback from them. I was so happy to see our youth there."
Right now, MPL is working with the office of violence prevention to more collaboratively support teens and provide alternatives to how they can be spending their time after school. Johnson says it's a great example of a resource that MPL can provide to the community but to make it a reality the funding, both public and private, has to be there.
Young patrons shared with TMJ4 News why they believe Milwaukee's local libraries provide important space for teens. "When they don't have a good home life they end up coping with doing other things — bad things, like drugs," said 7th grader, Keiryalis Montanez. "So, I feel like having a local library where you can just come in and have some peace is definitely good. Like, for your mental health and just getting yourself out of situations."
This year the proposed budget cut for MPL was just over 6% but Milwaukee's share of American Rescue Plan Act dollars were shifted to shore up the gap. In the 2024 budget cycle that money is not expected to be available and that's why library leaders are bracing for big cuts.
And it's why they say making time to attend a community conversation at your local branch, is so important. It's an opportunity to let MPL know what you value most about library services.
The next meeting is Saturday, February 25th at 3:00 p.m. at the Bayview Branch. Click here to see a list of upcoming meetings.
