Events Calendar

Growing Voices Music Class is an interactive class for caregivers and their children, birth-4, to play, learn, and bond with music. In our classes we sing, play instruments, dance, and have fun together! After the class, participants can stay for free play.

Come play in the children's area while local musician, Julia, plays a variety of songs on her violin and guitar. This is informal music, meant to be enjoyed while playing, drawing, or reading in the children's area! ​For families/all ages.

Learn how to get around the city with help from Metro Transit, as they introduce their new Fast Fare system! This Go By Metro series is dedicated to everything Fast Fare(link is external). Metro Transit and City employees will be distributing the new reloadable cards and staff will also be available to answer questions, help riders set up online accounts, add any half-price entitlements(link is external) and trade in unused passes/cards. Get the latest updates on Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) 

Find help navigating application processes and filling out forms required for housing, immigration, food, health, and other community support services.

In partnership with the City of Madison and Madison Public Library, the African Center for Community Development provides in-person assistance. Examples include: 

• Disability
• Employment
• Housing
• Passport
• Social security
• Unemployment
• WIC

For questions about the program or to schedule an appointment, please call the African Center at 608-957-5623 or 608-294-0066.

*Neither The African Center for Community Development nor Madison Public Library can provide legal assistance or advice.  We cannot fill out applications on your behalf or assess program eligibility.
 

Join Kayla Olson, Dementia Care Specialist from the Aging & Disability Resource Center of Dane County (ADRC), to learn about some of the brain changes that occur with dementia, and how this impacts how individuals interact with their surroundings. We will also provide general safety recommendations for the home to keep your loved one safe and limit risks or potential hazards.

Registration is recommended for this event. To register, click the button below or call Lakeview Library at 608-246-4547.

The Vanishing

Directed by Kristoffer Nyholm.  Performances by Gerard Butler, Peter Mullan, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Gary Lewis, Søren Malling.  Lions Gate Films, 2019.  Rated R.  107 minutes.  Drama / Mystery / Thriller

Gerard Butler, Peter Mullan and Connor Swindells star in this tense, action packed thriller based on true events. After three lighthouse keepers arrive for work on a remote Scottish isle, they make a fateful discovery: a wrecked rowboat – with a chest full of gold. As a mysterious boat heads towards the island, the three men make a choice that will change their lives forever, ensnaring them in a web of greed, paranoia and murder. 

Visit the Dream Bus to browse books and other library materials, place or pick up holds, and sign up for a library card.

Learn more at dreambus.org

The River Food Pantry's Munch Truck will be stopping outside Hawthorne on Thursdays from 3:55PM - 4:15PM.

About River Food Pantry & Munch Truck

Launched in 2016, Munch(link is external) is our mobile meals program that delivers free healthy meals to children and adults in over a dozen low-income neighborhoods throughout Madison. Each meal contains a sandwich or main menu item, a fruit or vegetable, a grain, a treat, and a drink. Everyone is welcome to take home a free meal. No registration or ID is required.

Neighborhoods served by Munch have large populations of children eligible for free school lunch. To bridge the gap that exists when school lunch is not available, Munch operates up to 6 days per week, Monday–Saturday, any time school cafeterias are closed (including breaks and periods of remote learning).

For any questions or comments, please contact the Munch staff at munch@riverfoodpantry.org(link sends e-mail) or (608) 661-1223.

The Madison Writing Assistance (MWA) program offers free, one-to-one writing support for community members at library branches throughout the city. Our friendly, experienced writing coaches are happy to help with writing projects across a wide range of genres, including resumes, cover letters, application essays, grant proposals, fiction writing, memoirs, and more.

Schedule an appointment online with the link below, by phone, or in person.

MWA services are made possible through generous donations from the Evjue Foundation and UW Anonymous Fund, along with administrative and program support from the UW-Madison English Department, the UW-Madison Writing Center, and our Library and neighborhood center partners.

Play Minecraft in both creative and survival worlds! Ability to fully use both a computer keyboard and a computer mouse required. Recommended for ages 8 and up.

Visit the Dream Bus to browse books and other library materials, place or pick up holds, and sign up for a library card.

Learn more at dreambus.org

The Madison Writing Assistance (MWA) program offers free, one-to-one writing support for community members at library branches throughout the city. Our friendly, experienced writing coaches are happy to help with writing projects across a wide range of genres, including resumes, cover letters, application essays, grant proposals, fiction writing, memoirs, and more.

Schedule an appointment online with the link below, by phone, or in person.

MWA services are made possible through generous donations from the Evjue Foundation and UW Anonymous Fund, along with administrative and program support from the UW-Madison English Department, the UW-Madison Writing Center, and our Library and neighborhood center partners.

Young people, ages 6-17 years old, are invited to cook with Chef Lily at Hawthorne Library! Participants will prepare and enjoy a wide variety of recipes, while learning about meal planning, following recipes, and using kitchen gadgets and tools.

Visit the Dream Bus to browse books and other library materials, place or pick up holds, and sign up for a library card.

Learn more at dreambus.org

Navigate this new world as Season2 comes to a close and second threat looms over the horizon will our heroes be brave enough to stop what comes? Will they be wise enough to solve the mystery? How many fart jokes can I squeak in?? Find out in A Ballad of Interesting Events. This campaign is geared towards middle and high school age youth and takes place on Thurday evenings at Meadowridge Library. 

Join Juliet King of Hijinx Mixed Media to make your own one-of-a-kind collage masterpiece. In this workshop, participants will explore various printed materials provided. Hand-drawn illustrations can be added to the piece for a personal touch. In this exercise of gratitude, participants are encouraged to reflect on what they are most thankful for as they scavenge for imagery and text, cut out shapes, create illustrations, write poetry, and paste pieces onto their paper. Experienced artist Juliet King will guide and instruct with helpful tips on composition and technique. 

Some things to consider when collage-making:

• Composition: balance, movement, focal points, contrast, scale, patterns
• Preserving limited resources of upcycled print materials
• Complexity of shapes to be cut and pasted
• Hand-drawn embellishments to unify the piece

Materials will be provided for this workshop, and participants can bring their own print materials and publications such as books, magazines, or advertisements (remember that these publications will be cut up).

Finished collages can be art for decoration, daily affirmations and gratitude reminders, a gift to a loved one, or just an exercise focused on the process of art-making. Since elements are foraged from pre-made print material, the process of collage-making is flexible depending on what can be found and how those pieces fit together within the composition.

This 2-hour workshop is ideal for beginner to advanced crafters who are comfortable with limited instruction and is open to ages 16+. Registration is required. Both November workshops are the same content; please select just one to register for. Registration opens 2 weeks in advance (Oct. 24, 2024).

About the instructor:

Juliet (she/they) founded Hijinx Mixed Media as a way to spread joy and laughter through art. Using humor, my art aims to accessibly explore difficult topics like humanity's impact on the planet, loneliness and community, or reminders of death (memento mori). Navigating the world as a mixed race queer artist, I hope to encourage community, solidarity, and resistance. Learn more about Juliet's art at hijinxmixedmedia.com / IG & TikTok @hijinx.mixed

The Madison Writing Assistance (MWA) program offers free, one-to-one writing support for community members at library branches throughout the city. Our friendly, experienced writing coaches are happy to help with writing projects across a wide range of genres, including resumes, cover letters, application essays, grant proposals, fiction writing, memoirs, and more.

Schedule an appointment online with the link below, by phone, or in person.

MWA services are made possible through generous donations from the Evjue Foundation and UW Anonymous Fund, along with administrative and program support from the UW-Madison English Department, the UW-Madison Writing Center, and our Library and neighborhood center partners.

Gathers most Thursday evenings! Middle and high school students can meet other aspiring authors, bounce ideas off one another, share their stories, and feel the creativity flow! Writing club is led by local author Carole Madrzak.

Join us for a book group discussion of "Once Upon a River" by Diane Setterfield. Books are available at the library. New members always welcome!

"On a dark midwinter’s night in an ancient inn on the river Thames, an extraordinary event takes place. The regulars are telling stories to while away the dark hours, when the door bursts open on a grievously wounded stranger. In his arms is the lifeless body of a small child. Hours later, the girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life. Is it a miracle? Is it magic? Or can science provide an explanation? These questions have many answers, some of them quite dark indeed...

Once Upon a River is a glorious tapestry of a book that combines folklore and science, magic and myth. Suspenseful, romantic, and richly atmospheric, this is 'a beguiling tale, full of twists and turns like the river at its heart, and just as rich and intriguing' (M.L. Stedman, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Light Between Oceans)." -- Amazon.com