Stay Connected

• Outside Contactless Materials Pickup (Curbside Service) 

• Renew Your Library Card Online

• Digital Resources 

Outside Contactless Materials Pickup

Starting December 3, as a result of increases in COVID-19 positive cases throughout the City of Milwaukee, all MPL locations will switch to curbside materials pick up only.  Materials can be requested online at mpl.org or by calling Ready Reference at 286-3011. Read Press Release.

Curbside service is available at all MPL locations and Ready Reference phone, email and chat services are available.

Hours of operation (to call in requests, and pick up materials):

Central Drive-Up
Monday - Friday: 9 AM - 6 PM
Saturday: 8 AM - 5 PM

Ready Reference 
Monday - Friday: 10 AM– 6 PM
Saturday: 9 AM – 5 PM

All Neighborhood Branches
Monday: 1 – 7 PM
Tuesday – Saturday: 10 AM – 4 PM

How to request materials:

• Call Ready Reference at 286-3011 for assistance with placing holds or use the request button from CountyCat and CountyCat mobile app to place holds.
• There is a limit of 5 items per call, and up to 30 items may be placed on hold.
• Place holds for pick up at open and curbside locations throughout Milwaukee County.

How to pick up materials:

• No appointment is necessary for curbside pick up at Central Library Drive-Up, and Neighborhood Branches.
• You will be notified that your hold is ready by e-mail, text, phone, or mail notification. Ready Reference can assist you to set that preference.
• Pick up the hold within 5 business days at the desired location.
• At Central you may pull up or walk up to the Drive-Up window. At neighborhood branches, patrons can either wait by the curbside sign or in their vehicle (without blocking traffic), and staff will bring their items to them.
• Please note that wait times may be longer than usual for interlibrary requests. Deliveries between Milwaukee County libraries are slower than usual due to less frequent deliveries and quarantine of returned materials. Items may display the status IN TRANSIT for up to a week before delivery.

When and where to return materials:

• Materials may be returned to any Milwaukee Public Library or MCFLS location. Due dates will vary according to check-out dates and fines will now accrue as normal.
• Patrons may renew eligible items online or call Ready Reference to renew.
• Items from other MCFLS member libraries may have varied due dates. Checkout receipts will be provided.

Renew Your Library Card Online

Every two years, libraries renew a person's library card to make sure the contact information is up-to-date. If you are a teen 15-17 years of age and have the necessary documents, you may renew your library card using this form. Fines tied to your library account need to be $5.00 or less.  You do not need to reside in the city of Milwaukee to use this form. Renew your library card online.

Digital Resources

Milwaukee Public Library provides a vast range of online services you can access from anywhere with your library card and PIN. MPL cardholders, including all Milwaukee Public School students, will be able to continue accessing online library resources and information, including eBooks, audiobooks, music, video and online resources, 24/7 on our website. Homework help is available to students through LibraryNOW on their smartphones, tablets and personal computers.

Brainfuse
Are you a student looking for live tutoring help? Need assistance with a wide range of classes from grade school reading to college physics? Connect with a teacher using the Brainfuse database!  It is a unique blend of tutoring, one-to-one homework help, state-aligned skills building, test preparation, and writing assistance for students of all ages, from elementary school to college studies. 

Freegal Music
 **UPDATE!** - each library cardholder may listen to 24 hours of streaming music per day (until March 31, 2021) through your personal Freegal Music account and download 5 songs per week. Keep all the songs you download and listen to them whenever you want. 40,000 music videos are also available for watching or downloading.

Gale Course
Take a 6-week online class on a wide variety of topics ranging from starting a small business to improving homeschooling skills to assisting aging parents. Every course is offered each month.

Hoopla
Get ebooks, audiobooks, comics, movies, music, and TV shows through the hoopla app! Four items may be checked out each month - everything is returned automatically.  With no waiting, titles can be streamed immediately, or downloaded to phones or tablets for offline enjoyment later. hoopla is a service of Midwest Tape, with more content added daily. 

• Introduction to Hoopla for Android
• Introduction to Hoopla for iOs
• View additional helpful Hoopla YouTube and user videos

NewspaperArchive.com
During this time of national social distancing, NewspaperARCHIVE.com is offering free access to libraries for users who cannot physically be in our library buildings. Read historic and everyday news articles as they occurred. These newspapers, from every state in the U. S. and around the world, supply great sources for primary history and genealogy accounts. 

Overdrive Downloadable Media
Enjoy a large selection of e-books, audiobooks, music and video for use with a wide variety of portable devices, PCs and Macs.

• Libby, by OverDrive
  Borrow ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines to read on your phone or tablet using the Libby app by OverDrive. You can even send and read your borrowed ebooks to your Kindle ereader (U.S. only)! It’s free and easy to get started for new users and a streamlined experience for current OverDrive app users. Learn more at overdrive.com/apps/libby/.

RBdigital Magazines
An online service that allows you to download digital copies of popular magazines to your computer, tablet, or mobile device.

Explore our full list of databases, A-Z. All databases can be used from home with the exception of Ancestry Institutional Edition and Foundations in Wisconsin.