Oconto Falls forms working group to explore joint library

A preliminary plan to create a joint library with other Oconto County municipalities could direct more revenue to the Oconto Falls Community Library.

Nicolet Library System photo

Posted Tuesday, March 3, 2026 6:00 am

Breaking down the Brown County Library bill

OCONTO FALLS – Residents from Oconto County towns without designated public libraries used over 41,300 Brown County library check-outs in 2024, contributing to a $235,135 bill delivered to Oconto County Clerk Kim Pytleski. The amount is larger than Oconto Falls Community Library’s entire annual budget.

Of the total billed, $164,594 — or 70% — is due by March 1, according to a memo Pytleski received in June 2025. The cost per physical check-out was $5.67 in 2024, according to a public document.

The overall cost has fueled discussions of a joint library plan in the City of Oconto Falls, where the community library’s funding saw a $20,000 funding decrease from the county.

The city received an innovation grant for a library study from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue and is considering several options.

The libraries “provide a great service to our residents, but unfortunately everyone is looking at budgets closely. We have to make sure we’re looking at it from every angle before making any decisions,” Pytleski said of the joint library plan.

When residents of a community without a library in Oconto County check out a book, DVD or other physical item from a Brown County public library, such as the Howard branch, the loan is kept track of according to the community the patron lives in, said Kristie Hauer, assistant system director at Nicolet Federated Library System. The system provides back-end services, such as billing and technology, to libraries in northeast Wisconsin, including those in Brown, Oconto, Marinette, Menominee, Florence, Door, Shawano and Kewaunee counties, Hauer said.

The Oconto County municipalities with Brown County library check-outs don’t receive bills from Brown County. Instead, Nicolet Federated Library System bills Oconto County, which spreads the amount due across the library-free towns based on their equalized valuations, Pytleski said.

The City of Oconto Falls doesn’t have to pay for Brown County library services because it has its own designated public library, Pytleski said. Similarly, Brown County doesn’t have to pay for check-outs its residents make at Oconto County libraries because there are no communities without libraries in Brown County, Hauer said.

A Wisconsin state statute allows the Brown County Library to bill an adjacent county for services provided to its residents of “unlibraried” towns, or those areas without designated libraries, said Tracy Vreeke, director of Nicolet Federated Library System in a memo.

Oconto County towns using Brown County library loans in 2024 included Chase with 10,491 loans; Little Suamico with 26,514 loans; Abrams with 2,046; Pensaukee with 1,302 loans; Morgan with 308; Town of Oconto Falls with 311; Town of Oconto with 129; Little River with 101; Stiles with 75; and Underhill with 27.

Pytleski said she audits the bill Nicolet Federated Library System sends to ensure only check-outs from residents of the specified communities are assessed the fee.

OCONTO FALLS – The City of Oconto Falls has formed a working group to discuss a joint library plan that would add seats to the library board for representatives of other municipalities.

The plan also would provide more revenue to the Oconto Falls Community Library instead of directing funds to Brown County.

The development follows a library innovation grant the City of Oconto Falls received from Wisconsin Department of Revenue to explore ways to stabilize funding for the local library, City Administrator Peter Wills said.

Wills is also one of the three members of the new library working group. Other members are Sue Mogged — who is a member of the library board and Town of Oconto Falls clerk — and Joel Lavarda, the Oconto County Board Member for District 17.

The working group’s objective is to “meet with towns not part of a joint library currently to discuss interest in forming a joint Oconto Falls library,” Wills said.

At the Feb. 10 common council meeting, Wills spoke about a study that Innovative Public Advisors produced which described several scenarios for the Oconto Falls Community Library going forward, including an Oconto Falls Joint Library System.

“It is an avenue to explore more consistent revenue from other municipalities to supplement what Oconto Falls pays,” said Rachel Pascoe, library director of the Oconto Falls Community Library.

“The city’s main goal has been financial stability. That seems more feasible with the joint library agreement from the city’s perspective,” Pascoe said.

The city provides $90,500 to the community library, and Oconto County contributes about $107,500 in funding, according to the innovation study. When the county reduced its annual allocation by $20,000 last fall, Pascoe appeared before the Oconto Falls Common Council then to ask for a larger appropriation from the city, and the council agreed to provide it.

A joint library would benefit Oconto County residents in about 11 municipalities who don’t have access, Wills said. They end up paying for library services two ways, including an annual contribution to Brown County based on equalized value, and a millage to Oconto County.

The county millage is divided among the city libraries in Oconto, Oconto Falls, Suring, Gillette and Lakewood, Wills said.

With a joint library, boards include representatives from each participating municipality to allow for shared decision-making and accountability, the study said. Innovative Public Advisors said this would create more predictable costs and allow for expansions.

Under the current system, municipal libraries foot the bill disproportionately when they serve regional users, the study said. Discussions regarding this possible library system are in the early stages.

In the Town of Stiles, town board chair Jason Flynn said the topic of community library services doesn’t come before the town board very often.

“We’re trying to bring everyone together but it really depends on the interests of the communities,” Wills said.

Persuading municipalities to join forces with Oconto Falls will require informational presentations to town and village boards, as most haven’t been involved with the libraries in the past other than to pay a fee to Oconto County so it can reimburse Brown County Library.

To support a local joint library and avoid paying Brown County, the municipalities in Oconto County could join Oconto Falls Library through a joint library agreement, Wills said.
“We would need to reach an agreement by September in order for it to take effect in 2027,” he said.

Story highlights

Oconto Falls established a working group to discuss forming a joint library plan, which would grant library board seats to representatives .

Initiated after receiving a library innovation grant, the city’s main objective is to secure consistent revenue and stabilize funding.
The proposed plan aims to stop directing funds to Brown County, which currently receives significant payments from the county.