The Library
Madison Public Library provides free and equitable access to cultural and educational experiences. We celebrate ideas, promote creativity, connect people, and enrich lives. The library's tradition of supporting education, literacy and community involvement has enriched the City of Madison for more than 135 years. Our nine locations throughout the city are open six days a week (with limited Sunday hours) and welcome over 2 million visits each year.
Madison Public Library: your place to learn, share, and create.
Use your free public library card to borrow books, cds, video games and movies from the 9 Madison Public Library locations along with the other 50 libraries in the South Central Library System. Quickly place a hold and pick it up at a public library in your area using our shared digital library catalog, LINKcat, or be sure to look at the "status" of the item at a specific library location in order to see if the item is available on the shelf before you head over to the library.
And be sure to check out our Library of Things, where you can borrow stuff like graphing calculators, dvd players, disc golf kits, book club kits, garden seeds, LED happy lights, record players and more.
Central Library houses the Bubbler Room, which hosts a variety of workshops and participatory projects. Central Library's Artist-In-Residence uses a portion of the the Bubbler Room as their public studio and workshop space for moths at a time.The room is on the Ground Floor and is open during all regular Central Library hours, so stop by anytime. You may find anything from a cheese making workshop, to a self-directed social art project, to a drop-in printmaking session, to an impromptu dance party!
Groups: Connect with us to see if there is capacity to schedule a group workshop with the Artist-In-Residence.
Individuals: Check out the Bubbler Calendar or stop by the Bubbler Room for a true Madison experience if you're in the downtown area!
You don't even have to stop by the desk to find out what your local library staff think about the books they read, just check out their reviews and book lists!
Reading over the summer is incredibly important for students and their academic achievement. Join the local teen conversation at the Teen's Choice Awards page.
For more about the importance of summer reading, read the Department of Public Instruction's Fact Sheet on Why Public Library Summer Reading Programs Are Important and this article from School Library Journal. Or check out the Summer Learning Loss video from Brian Williams.
Check out these lists of downloadable hands-on projects created by the Bubbler teaching artist community.