$500,000 Endowment Gone, Wyocena Public Library Now Dependent on the Kindness of the Village Board

Wyocena library to stay open, but with shorter hours. (Portage Daily Register, 9/30/2013)

It's been a bumpy ride.   The library first opened its doors in 2005. It owes its existence to the late Olieve Huggett Hiller (1914-1997), who bequeathed to the village $500,000, to be used to start a library. 

The library initially subsisted on interest from the endowment, but in recent years the endowment’s principal has been used for operations. Now that money is gone, Knitt said. 

Village voters in November 2012 defeated a referendum, 262-93, to raise village property taxes to generate $75,000 per year for library operations.