Milwaukee Municipal Research Library

12/28/2023

A quick reminder that city offices and agencies will be closed Friday, Dec. 29 and Monday, Jan. 1, reopening for regular hours Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024. Happy New Year!

08/22/2023

Important traffic info for Wednesday, Aug. 23:

06/01/2023

Happy 115th Birthday to us! On June 1, 1908, the Common Council passed an ordinance creating “what shall be known as the Municipal Reference Library, for the use of the Common Council, city officials and heads of departments of said city, and the same shall be located in the City Hall.” At the time, the library was only the second of its kind in the country, the first being in Baltimore only one year earlier.

This ordinance was actually an amendment to an earlier one passed in February 1908, which had placed the Municipal Reference Library within the Milwaukee Public Library. Mayor David Rose pointed out that the specialty library was created for a more distinct purpose, and therefore it should be a separate agency. Nevertheless, separate did not mean private. The original ordinance also states that the library’s collection shall be “open to the inspection and use for reference purposes by the general public.”

Through the years, control of the library shifted between the Council and the Milwaukee Public Library, changing again in 1971 when the Council established the Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB). The library was part of this new division, overseen by the City Clerk, which performed research, provided fiscal analysis, drafted legislation, and prepared ordinance changes for printing. This change more accurately reflected much of the work that the library had been doing since its inception. As early as the 1940s, librarian Norman Gill had pointed out that the library was more than a storehouse of materials, and that “Department of Municipal Research” or “Municipal Reference Bureau” would be more appropriate names.

The library was part of the LRB until 2018, when the city's Municipal Research Center was formed to combine the library, the City Records Center, and the Historic Preservation office as a unique division under the City Clerk. The name was changed once more, to Municipal Research Library, to parallel the name of the overall division. We hope Norman Gill would approve.

04/13/2023

Ahh spring! Every year we can rely on the return of birds, flowers, and potholes. You can report potholes to the Dept. of Public Works by calling 414-286-CITY (2489) or report them online (scroll to Street Maintenance).

Affordable land and leasing costs, abundant fresh water, an educated workforce, low business costs and easy access to financing, technical assistance and efficient transportation have helped local businesses succeed and grow.

02/16/2023

Due to worsening weather, most city offices will be closing at noon today.

10/25/2022

The Municipal Research Library is one of three units in the Milwaukee Municipal Research Center that house and maintain historic documents about the City of Milwaukee. The City Records Center (CRC) is another one, and CRC staff have been busy digitizing numerous collections from their holdings. Many of them are administrative in nature, such as purchase vouchers, but some, such as this picture of the Golda Meir School in Milwaukee’s Brewers Hill neighborhood, are of much broader interest.
https://milwaukeemrc.starter1ua.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_e161e07b-a065-44ee-bd61-0c10904af82b/
The school formerly known as the Fourth Street Public School, seen here circa 1950, was built by architect H.C. Koch in the Romanesque Revival style in 1890, and is most famous as the school attended by its namesake future Israeli Prime Minister from 1906-1912.
This picture is from files related to a 1990 Historic Preservation Commission survey report designating the school as a National Historic Site, but previously it had been locked behind the City’s firewall on an internal document management system. Preservica has allowed the CRC to unlock these records and make them available to a wider public audience, while also helping to ensure their survival. As the CRC adds more records to its collections from across the City, it is helping people connect with the work of their City government, past and present.

09/21/2022

Spread the word: Public input on the 2023 city budget will be heard at two meetings. See Finance and Personnel Committee chair Ald. Dimitrijevic's press release below.

New public engagement hearing added

09/02/2022

Very cool!

Milwaukee Bronzeville Histories is an interactive virtual platform to enrich and expand the history of Milwaukee Bronzeville, an African American community. Milwaukee Bronzeville is an area where African-American migrated during the Great Migration for better opportunities and created a sustainable....