As St. Paul Mayor Christopher Coleman observed a few years ago, "Try to close a library sometime"

You'll find the full quote here.

South Community Library

Closing South Community Library proposed to fix budget. (La Crosse Tribune, 9/12/2013)

Excerpt:   The recommendation to shutter the site will be part of Krieg-Sigman’s budget presentation to the city’s Board of Estimates on Monday as it develops the 2014 operating budget. 

The library has struggled for years to balance rising costs against shrinking revenues, repeatedly turning to reserve funds now tapped to their limits, Krieg-Sigman said. 

Closing the south branch could save an estimated $161,704, she said.

South Community Library statistics (2012)

• Visits:  130,393
• Circulation:  131,546

If the South Community Library were a standalone operation, it would rank 110th out of 386 among Wisconsin's public libraries -- between the Tomah Public Library (130,204) and the Rusk County Community Library in Ladysmith (130,597) 

Board hears case for closing library, suggestions for saving it.  (La Crosse Tribune, 9/17/2013)

Excerpt:     Eliminating the site would save an estimated $161,704 to help offset a predicted $268,258 shortfall for 2014, Krieg-Sigman said. 

She blamed a combination of rising expenses, shrinking revenues and steady annual budget cuts for forcing the library board to recommend shutting down the south branch, which has been in operation since 1922 and at the current site since 1952.

Letter to the editor:  Library is a valuable resource for city.  (La Crosse Tribune, 9/17/2013)

Excerpt: Combined with the use of the playground outside the library, the interesting programs offered at the library and a trip to Ranison Ice Cream & Candy nearby, it’s truly a community resource.

Letter to the editor:  Library promotes lifetime of literacy.  (La Crosse Tribune, 9/18/2013)

Excerpt: I visited that library every two to three weeks as a child just to pick up a new book and get lost in a new world. The library helped spark my love of reading, and, as a product of that childhood, I’ve become an English literature student at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Letter to the editor:  Library is a key part of neighborhood.  (La Crosse Tribune, 9/18/2013)

Excerpt: The South Community Library has served La Crosse at nominal expense for my entire life and was the first library I ever used as a child. Like Mayor Tim Kabat, I’m baffled by the recommendation of the library board to close it.