About the Greendale Public Library

FOOTNOTE AWARD WINNERS

To view information about our All-Star Volunteers, the Footnote Award winners, click here.

Greendale had its beginning in 1936 when the Department of Agriculture’s Resettlement Administration began the construction of three new communities known as Greenbelt towns. Greendale was created to produce homes for families of an income level that ordinarily precludes living in a suburban setting. All of the property was owned by the government until the federal government disposed of the Greenbelt towns in 1949, and by 1952 the transfer to private ownership was completed.

Greendale residents have been provided library service since 1938. The first school building in Greendale (now the Intermediate School) housed a library that also served the public. Its budget and services were determined by the Board of Education.

Supplemental library service was provided by a contract with the City of Milwaukee which allowed residents of Greendale to use Milwaukee Public Library facilities and which provided the Village of Greendale with bookmobile service.

In 1969, remodeling of the Intermediate School required the "public library" to move to the Greendale High School. The school district continued to support public library services until a new state law in 1971 said school districts could no longer operate libraries for municipalities.

In January of 1972, the Village President appointed a library advisory committee which recommended that the Village of Greendale form a Library Board. Wisconsin State Law (Chapter 43) requires municipalities to form Library Boards to operate their public libraries. By October of 1972, the first Greendale Public Library Board of Trustees held their first meeting.

A contractual agreement between the new Library Board and the Board of Education provided for a "public" library to continue at the High School. At this time, the library was open to the public two evenings a week and Saturday mornings for a total of seven hours a week.

The first Library Board created a five step plan. The first step involved the organization of the Library Board, development and operating procedures and policies, and obtaining state approval of the library plan. Step two called for a book procurement schedule that would result in a public library collection of 30,000 volumes purchased over a five year period. Step three involved dropping bookmobile service being provided by the Milwaukee Public Library, searching for temporary quarters for the public library outside of a school building, and employing a consultant to begin a site selection process for a new public library building. Step four involved moving the library to those temporary quarters. Step five involved construction of a public library with a target occupancy date of January of 1976.

In March of 1973, the Library Board created the position of Library Director and on June 1, 1973, Darlene Blakely became the first director of the Greendale Public Library. She worked ten hours a week. The Library Board worked to get more hours of access for the public at the school’s libraries, including having the grade school collections available to the public during the summer.

By mid-1973, the Library Board began to study the available space in the former Kroger site in the shopping mall on Broad Street. By late 1973, a three year lease was signed for that space with a target date of May of 1974 for opening the first separate public library space in Greendale. The library was designed by the Village Engineer and the Building Inspector. Bids were opened for equipment purchases and remodeling of the site began.

A consultant’s study by John Jahnke on various sites available in the Village of Greendale for a public library resulted in the selection of the northeast corner of Broad Street and Southway for a feasibility study for future construction.

At the same time, the Library Board interviewed and selected its first full-time director. On April 1, 1974, Cecilia Chapple began her duties as Library Director.

On July 1, 1974, the first non-school site public library in the Village of Greendale was opened to the public. Located at 5666 Broad Street in the Village Center, it was a 4,000 square foot facility able to house about 35,000 volumes. This rented space was leased for three years.

As a new member of the Milwaukee County Federated Library System in July of 1976, the Greendale Public Library could take advantage of the unique offerings of this state-funded cooperative. Services included reciprocal borrowing of materials between communities, access to all libraries in the system, daily delivery of materials, plus other services. In years to come, the system would add a computerized circulation system, multi-media services, and the Over 60 program. Due to budget constraints, some of the services would come and go, but the basic state mandated services remain to this date, plus the provision of computer services which is not a mandated service.

In May of 1977, the Library Board accepted a five year plan that included keeping the library at the site on Broad Street. The possibility of remodeling the basement or expanding into addition leased space was discussed. A second three lease for the 4,000 square feet was signed.

In the spring of 1979, the library was remodeled to include an office for the Library Director and an enclosed entryway for the public. In October of 1979, Cecilia Chapple announced her resignation as Library Director. Darlene Blakely became the acting director for the library until January of 1980 when Gary Warren Niebuhr became the new Library Director.

In 1980, with the addition of some new shelving, the Library was totally rearranged. Juvenile and adult nonfiction materials were integrated into one collection, and the reference, new books and magazine sections were shifted. A children’s librarian was added to the library staff and a reference/children’s services desk was added to the library. In 1982, the library staff was reduced by one full time clerical staff aide and consequently closed on Saturdays during the summer. In August, due to the serious buckling of the carpeting, the library was closed so that the carpet could be stretched.

In 1984, the City of Greenfield approached the Library Board with the suggestion that the two communities plan a joint library. After the completion of the needs assessment and a meeting with Larry Nix of the Division for Library Services, the Library Board agreed to extend the lease on its current site and not plan a joint library with Greenfield.

In 1985, the Library Board approved the Milwaukee County Federated Library System Member Agreement, a document negotiated to end some of the political problems that had reduced library service county-wide, and the Library Board also approved an extension of the lease agreement on the rented site on Broad Street.

The Library Board initiated two broad program in 1987. The first involved the Planning Process for Public Libraries established by the American Library Association which could have led to the first comprehensive long range plan for the library. After the study was completed, the Library Board did not accept the long range plan. The Library Board did adopt a mission statement for the library that reads as follows:

The mission of the Greendale Public Library shall be to provide high quality, publicly-funded library resources, services and information to all residents of Greendale and the metropolitan area.

The Board also established the following roles from the Planning Process for the direction of the staff:

Popular Materials Center, 37%

Features high current, high-demand, high-interest materials in a variety of formats for persons of all ages

Preschoolers’ Door to Learning, 25%

Encourages young children to develop an interest in reading and learning through services for children, and for parents and children together

Community Information Center, 7%

Acts as a clearinghouse for current information on community organizations

Formal Education Support Center, 7%

Assists students of all ages in meeting educational objectives established during their formal courses of study

Reference Library, 4%

Actively provides timely, accurate and useful information for community residents

Miscellaneous Categories Not Selected and Contingency, 20%

Community Activities Center

Focus point for community activities, meetings, and services

Independent Learning Center

Supports individuals of all ages in pursuing a sustained program of learning independent of any educational provider

Research Center

Assists scholars and researchers to conduct in-depth studies, investigate specific areas of knowledge, and create new knowledge

The Library Board established a Library Building Committee in 1987 which was charged with planning for the future location of the library and to organize and conduct a fund raising campaign.

Three members of the Library Board spearheaded an effort to create a foundation to support the library. In 1988, the Greendale Public Library Foundation, Inc., established itself with the goal of raising non-tax revenue for the benefit of the Library. Under the direction of the Foundation, the Friends of the Greendale Public Library was formed.

By 1988, through the work of the Library Building Committee, the Village Board moved the creation of a new library to the "A" priority list of its capital improvement plan. The Village Board was able to study the Site Recommendation Report and the Space Needs Outline provided to them by the committee and the Library Board. In the spring of 1989, the Village Board purchased the Drews Dime Store Building, originally built in 1938 as a food, variety and drug store cooperative, as the site for the public library as well as the Greendale Health Department, the Greendale Historical Society and a community meeting room. The building was to be known as the Municipal Building.

The Village Board created a team to represent the village during the construction project that consisted of the Village Manager, the Village Engineer, the Library Director, the Health Nurse, a Village Trustee and a representative from the Historical Society. The Village hired Potter Design Group of Madison to be the architect on the project.

The Municipal Building consists of 13,155 sq. ft. on the first floor, with approximately 11,000 devoted to library service and the balance for the Health Department. The lower level contains 4,340 sq. ft of space devoted to the Historical Society, library storage, breakroom, and community meeting room. The entire Municipal Building and land occupies 17,700 sq. ft. Construction costs were $1,206,433, land and building purchase was $420,000 and furniture was $137,000 for a total cost of $1,763,433.

Enhancements to the library included oak wood furniture and shelving from the Buckstaff Company,. a 3M security system, and specially designed desks and shelves for staff use.

Prior to its move, the library had a campaign called Armload Daze in which all citizens of Greendale were invited to come down to the library, check out an armload of material, take it home, and return it to the new library after it opened. Some citizens took to this task with great industry, including showing up at the storefront library with suitcases to be filled with materials. On Wednesday, November 21, 1990, the storefront library served its last customer after sixteen years and four months of service in the rented space at 5666 Broad Street.

On Friday, November 23, 1990, volunteers including the Friends of the Library, Boy Scout Troop No. 506, and the Greendale Village Jaycees joined the library staff in moving the collection to the new facility. Materials were loaded on book carts and placed in the school’s lunch van and carried across the street to the new facility.

On December 12, 1990, the first customers were served in the new library facility. Art and Irene Nevela were the first residents to check out material. A formal dedication ceremony was held on Sunday December 16th to officially open the new facility.

In March of 1993, as a part of the Youth Art Month celebration at the library, the Library Board accepted the gift of three mobile art pieces by Jim Treutelaar, an Oconomowoc artist. The art pieces were a donation from the Greendale Woman’s Club received through the Greendale Public Library Foundation, Inc.

In July of 1995, the Library closed for one week in order to complete the transition from the old Checkpoint Plessey circulation system to the new Innovative Interfaces circulation system. Provided to the library by the Milwaukee County Federated Library System, the circulation system computerizes all circulation related activities, provides an on-line public access catalogue of materials, remote dial-in access to the catalogue, and a wide-area network connecting our library to a host of electronic information sources.

The Greendale Public Library jumped into the age of technology when it brought five public access PCs into operation in the fall of 1998. When customer response was high, two more PCs were added to the network in 1999. The public access PCs allowed patrons to access the world wide web and to do email at the library. One PC was dedicated to word processing, spreadsheet and database creation.

In 2001, the Library set an all-time circulation record of 234,451 items checked out, which was surpassed in 2002 by a circulation of 239,276. Also in 2002, the staff upgraded all PCs in the building to state of the art hardware and software, installed the VideoEye Power Magnification System donated by the Greendale Lions Club and the iMAC donated by James Hauser.

In 2005, the Library received a new roof. In 2006, the Library Board expanded from five to seven members. Library Director Gary Warren Niebuhr was the Parade Marshall for the Village of Greendale’s annual Village Days Parade.

In 2007, the Library was closed for two weeks while the building was carpeted and painted.

In 2007, the Library began its first Adult Summer reading program in conjunction with the annual program for youth. The Library installed and began to use receipt printers for check out this month. Effective January 1, 2008, Library staff no longer stamped due dates on library materials.

If you have comments or suggestions, send e-mail to: Library Director Gary Warren Niebuhr