Posted September 29, 2003.

Milwaukee Delays Closing Villard Avenue Branch

In response to efforts by area residents to save the Villard Avenue branch, Milwaukee Public Library trustees backtracked September 24 on their proposal to close the branch by October 1. Instead, they voted to cut its hours in half and temporarily close five other branches on Fridays in order to keep Villard open through December 20. Approximately 8,000 schoolchildren live in the area, mostly minority children who attend five different schools.

Although Mayor John O. Norquist’s proposed 2004 budget would eliminate the $500,000 needed to keep the branch open next year, the Milwaukee city council recently approved $35,000 to pay retired library workers to extend its life another three months.

The budget also freezes the city’s property tax levy at the 2003 level of $197 million. “A lot of people talked about a property tax freeze over the past months,” Alderman Mike D’Amato, an MPL trustee, said in the September 24 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “They wanted to know what it looks like. Well, for the libraries, this is what it looks like.”

Posted September 29, 2003.