Milwaukee Public Library is inviting neighbors to check out a refreshed outdoor space at its Tippecanoe Branch, where a storybook-inspired hideaway known as the Secret Garden is getting a grand reveal. The library's event listing bills it simply as a chance to celebrate: “Join us to celebrate our enhanced space, the Secret Garden!”
The Tippecanoe Branch, at 3912 S. Howell Ave., is home to the Secret Garden. According to the library's event page, the gathering marks a “Grand Reveal of the Enhanced Secret Garden.” Details on which physical features or programming elements are being enhanced were not spelled out in the listing.
The garden itself draws its name and spirit from a beloved piece of children's literature. Per Milwaukee Public Library, the space was “inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1911 book, ‘The Secret Garden,’” and was designed as “an outdoor space for children and for the telling of stories.”
A Tribute Built Through Private Giving
The library's website notes that the Secret Garden was created “in tribute to former City Librarian, Paula Kiely, through a generous gift from Barbara Stein,” honoring Kiely's legacy with a living, growing space.
That gift was substantial. The same green-infrastructure history published by the library states the Secret Garden was added to Tippecanoe in 2016 after Stein donated $50,000 to the Milwaukee Public Library Foundation. FOX6 News Milwaukee previously noted that “special features including a ‘Secret Garden’ were funded by the Milwaukee Public Library Foundation and large gifts from private donors,” as detailed in FOX6's coverage of the branch's reopening.
A Branch Rebuilt, Then Regrown
The Tippecanoe Branch has been through more than one transformation. The original building at 3912 S. Howell Ave. opened for service on November 17, 1969, but the version residents visit today is a full rebuild: the renovated branch reopened on December 12, 2015, according to the library's own branch history. FOX6's report on the reopening described the new structure as a 16,900-square-foot standalone building.
The library's landscaping now includes new trees, perennials and rain garden swales.
Grants Fed a Growing Green Footprint
Much of that growth was funded piece by piece through outside grants rather than a single windfall. In 2016, the library was awarded more than $70,000 from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District for green infrastructure work, including permeable pavement, a bioswale, native landscaping and a rain garden. The branch later received another $20,000 spread across two James E. Dutton grants in 2016 and 2017, the library's history states.
The property also gained a hands-on feature for gardeners in the surrounding neighborhood. In 2018, Tippecanoe added a Seed Library, letting patrons pick up free seeds to grow their own plants at home — part of a broader push that has turned the branch into something of a green-programming hub alongside its role as a place for storytime and reading.
Just what the newly enhanced Secret Garden will look like once the covers come off has not been detailed publicly. The specifics of the unveiling were not laid out ahead of the celebration.
