'By 2023, they'll be out of money:' What will become of the Brown Deer Public Library?

BROWN DEER -- Village officials say the Brown Deer Public Library will be shuttered if they don't come up with a new plan, telling a crowd during a meeting Tuesday night, Sept. 18 they don't have the money to keep the doors open in the years to come.

Do you remember your first trip to the library? FOX6 caught up with Jadon Martinez and his mom Chandra on Tuesday as he checked out his first two books,

Jadon Martinez

Jadon Martinez

"He's a bookworm, so I'm like, 'let's start going to the library,' and when I came in here, I was like 'oh man, I haven't been to the library in a long time,'" said Chandra Martinez.

Chandra and Jadon Martinez

Young Jadon's enthusiasm for the library was a stark contrast to serious conversation taking place across the hall.

"That's a duck squeal!" said Chandra Martinez.

Michael Hall

"We figure by 2023, they'll be out of money. There's a lot of problems with the carpeting and roof problems and windows and things like that, and we also have a revenue problem," said Michael Hall, Brown Deer village manager.

Village officials said the library is losing tens of thousands of dollars every year.

"Libraries are changing, so we are trying to find another way to fund this," said Hall.

On Tuesday, a new plan was unveiled that would involve moving the library to a larger building, where some of the space could be leased to help with expenses. The village would buy the old Westbury building across the street from FOX6, which is triple the size of the current library, but would allow the village to have paying tenants and enough room for the library.

"It would be great for him to be able to take his son or daughter there right?" said Martinez.

That plan was well received during Tuesday's meeting, but no decision was made.