Library at a crossroads

The Niederkorn Library is one of Port Washington’s beloved buildings, but it needs some work.

The Prairie-style building, which was built in 1961, needs about $400,000 in repairs — everything from grab bars in the restrooms to roof repairs — to bring it up to code, Library Director Tom Carson said, and another $1.5 million to bring it up to date aesthetically and service-wise.

“No matter what, this building has to be fixed,” he said, noting he’s planning to start by seeking new computers and some repairs in next year’s capital budget. “We can’t continue to put the basics off.”

But, Carson said, those repairs bring up a bigger question that must be tackled —what is the role of the library in today’s world and what should it look like?

“The library as a whole is changing,” Carson said. “I know it’s difficult for people to deal with the idea of changing a facility they love, but our goal is to make sure we have the right content for our users.

“The library is actually two spaces — the physical space and the digital space. Our physical space needs help. It needs to be repaired.”

A recent facility assessment conducted by Plunkett Raysich Architects, which was presented to the Common Council last week, was prompted by one of those needs, Carson said.

The library was looking at adding a children’s restroom that could be accessed from the children’s library when the Finance and Licence Committee suggested seeing what needs to be done to the current building.

But ultimately, answering the question of what the public wants the library to be into the future may mean moving to a different building, Carson said.

To determine what direction the library should go, he said, the Library Board is expected to launch a strategic planning process in January. 

The strategic plan is expected to be completed by fall 2022.

“The goal is to look at all facets of the services we provide, how can we continue in our current building, what we need to change or do we look elsewhere,” Carson said. “This building is beautiful. It does need some tender loving care and upkeep. We can make it work, but it does limit what we can do.”

Libraries, he said, have always been a center of the community, a place for people to gather, where everyone is welcome and literacy in all its forms is key.

“Everyone needs to know how to read. You will not succeed in life if you don’t know how to read,” Carson said.

Libraries are a place where people can get warm in winter and cool in summer, get help with resumes and job applications and searches, where people can use free WiFi and where some people have their only social interactions of the day, Carson said.

“We’re not warehouses of books anymore. We’re community gathering places,” he said.

Although library use was down during the pandemic, Carson said, “we’re meeting our pre-Covid numbers in terms of overall use.”

And while people may not be checking out the same number of paper books as in the past, they are checking out ebooks Carson said. 

The studies will help take  the library into the future, he said.

“We want something up to date and relevant to our users,” Carson said. “We’re trying to reimagine our library, then we will reinvest in it, then we will rediscover it.”

The Plunkett Raysich study notes that while there are repairs and upgrades that need to be done now, space constraints and library trends point to the need for an addition or a new building.

One model to look at that’s becoming more common throughout the country is to work with a developer to either construct a new library building or include it in a redevelopment as an anchor for the project, Carson said. 

The developer would subsidize the cost of the library, which could share first-floor space with a retail tenant and have residential uses on upper floors. 

“You could get a new library at about 60% of the cost,” Carson said.

The existing library could then be repurposed, perhaps for the senior center or parks and recreation department, he said. 

This concept was used for Milwaukee’s East Side branch library, Carson noted, and the new Brown Deer library, which is in a former bank building.

The study will include input from the public, something Carson said is essential to any decision made by the Library Board and the Common Council.

“At the end of the day, it’s going to be what the community supports,” he said. “I’m a dreamer, but I’m a pragmatist. To make this work, we have to have support from the city council and the public.

“I realize there are some major projects and expenses that need to move forward in this community,” Carson said, referring to such things as $15.3 million in improvements to the water filtration plant and a proposed new $5 million fire station. “But we need to look forward, we need to plan.”

Any building project, whether at the current library or a new location, will likely be financed through a combination of city and private funds, Carson said.

“I think there are some very generous prosperous citizens who would be willing to help determine the future of the library,” he said. 

“We’re not looking at a Taj Mahal. But we have to look at the future and plan. That’s what we’re supposed to do — it’s a core duty.

“I believe we could provide better service to our users through reinvesting in our library. That’s what Port Washington deserves.”