Milwaukee Public Library
Milwaukee Public Library has an *outstanding* music collection and if you live in Milwaukee County you
can get many materials brought to your local City or County branch and avoid having to drive downtown or to the branch that owns what you want.
The Milwaukee Public Library website is http://mpl.org/
Milwaukee County Library System website is https://countycat.mcfls.org/
Lack of access to the electronic periodical databases, which are part of the standard tools of academia, is one of the primary resources that non-affiliated people lament most. That too can be partially alleviated by your public library card. The state pays for Badger Link which provides access to a large number of databases through Ebsco Host.
This is the list of all of the databases that MPL provides access to
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Music Collection
The UWM Libraries, including the Music Collection, are open to the general public. You can come in and use materials in-house, including listening to our extensive audio collection (nearly 70,000 LPs and CDs!) in the Media & Reserve Services area, you can photocopy music from the collection, and you can access our extensive collection of online databases.
You can search the catalog to see what sorts of things are available from off campus and then go to the library in-house to actually use them.
The Music Collection website is https://uwm.edu/libraries/music/
Join Friends of the Library organizations
Many college libraries have a "Friends of the Libraries" or a "Community User" card. You pay a small annual fee and you are allowed to check out materials. Two such examples are:
UWM Libraries Community Borrower Program
Carroll University provides for a Community Borrower Card