The gray, rusted doors to a Ford Heights community center lead to a temporary library space some volunteers cobbled together. The small room contains three computers, a rug and shelves that hold about 100 book donations – everything from colorful children’s novels to a navy blue Britannica encyclopedia set.

“This is all we have right now in the community. Nothing else,” said Ladell Jones, president of the volunteer Ford Heights Library Board.

Ford Heights hasn’t had a real, standalone library in about 30 years. Public records show the south suburb has collected more than $100,000 in taxpayer money over the past decade, although it’s a mystery as to where the money is going and why volunteers instead created a makeshift library the size of a dining room.

Records requested by WBEZ show the Ford Heights Public Library District has requested $842,724 in levies from its residents between 2011 and 2021. And over that time, the Cook County Treasurer has distributed more than $121,522 to the Ford Heights Public Library District.

Jones was listed in documents from the Cook County Clerk’s Office as the public library president for the first time in 2017, and intermittently held that title throughout the subsequent years. He was most recently the president in 2022. WBEZ reached out to Ford Heights officials to get an explanation about where the money is going, but they did not return phone calls.

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Since Ford Heights technically has a library district, its residents cannot get full-access cards at other libraries. The majority-Black suburb has 1,800 residents, and 39% of them earn less than $25,000 a year. According to the Cook County Treasurer, Ford Heights has the lowest property tax collection rate in the county – 29.3% vs. the countywide rate of 96%.

While it’s unclear where the money collected for the library is going, it is clear that the money isn’t poured into an official Ford Heights library system. The district closed its library after being unable to keep it up to code. Eventually, it was torn down. The Illinois General Assembly approved a measure in 2018 requesting an audit of the Ford Heights Public Library District, but the examination never happened because the village did not agree to it. The district would have had to pay for the audit, and the board said there was not enough money.

In 2004, the suburb partnered with the neighboring Glenwood-Lynwood Public Library. But officials said Ford Heights fell behind on payments.

Glenwood-Lynwood library director Brian Vagt said the lack of payments forced the program to end five years after launch. He said his library system has tried to help Ford Heights in other ways, but nothing has stuck. For example, a few years ago, the library donated a bookmobile to Ford Heights that sat abandoned on Route 30 for years.

“And as far as I know, it just sat there,” Vagt said. “Sad when you drive by and you’re like… so much it could have been.”

The bookmobile was towed last fall after years of disuse led to it sitting in shambles. Most recently in July, Glenwood-Lynwood offered digital library cards so Ford Heights residents can access online materials. Vagt said he plans to continue this program indefinitely and wants to keep trying to find ways to give Ford Heights residents access to books.

Alyx Bibbs, who grew up in the community and is now a college student at the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, said she remembers spending hours at neighboring suburban public libraries. Losing access to books hit her core, because it was another reminder that due to circumstances beyond her control she wasn’t enough.

“That hurts your sense of character. You’re already a working class, low-income individual,” Bibbs said.

Adora Namigadde is a metro reporter for WBEZ. Follow @adorakn.