Illinois: Maywood Public Library Shuts Its Doors Due to Lack of Funding
Note: The Village of Maywood, IL is located just west of Chicago.
From WGN-TV:
The public library in suburban Maywood closed its doors Saturday and will not reopen until funding can be secured.
It’s a place to read, use a computer and for teens to stay out of trouble. But now, the Maywood Library is closed due to a lack of funding.
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The Library District, which is separate from the village is over a half-million dollars in debt. Dozens of angry residents filled the library this afternoon to hear board members explain the situation.
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It’s a surprising turn of events for the nearly 140-year-old institution. In 1994, residents voted to expand the library from less than 1,000 square feet to 40,000 square feet.
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See Also: From NBC Chicago:
The library board says it needs more than $800,000 over the next four years to get out of debt and officials claim they had no choice but to close.
“We are also sandwiched in with the difficulty of trying to collect money from the many foreclosed homes that are here,” said Library Director Stan Huntington.
See Also: Maywood library closed due to lack of funds (via ABC Chicago)
Public libraries in neighboring communities will honor Maywood library cards during the closure. Residents say they’re disappointed.
Direct to Maywood Public Library Website
Filed under: Funding, Libraries, News, Public Libraries
About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.