Events Calendar

READ and PLAY together with children 5 & under! Engaging with books, songs and playful experiences all help children develop communication skills, patience, empathy, and pre-reading skills​ and helps to build a lifelong love of reading. Library programs are always free. Siblings and childcare groups are welcome.

Join Kim for a chair yoga and gentle movement class focusing on range of motion, breathing, and balance. Movements will be performed either sitting in a chair or standing.

Chair yoga is accessible to anyone of any age or ability. The practice begins with quiet stillness, focusing on breathing to increase respiratory function. Gentle movement while seated can increase range of motion and flexibility in all joints of the body and reduce arthritis pain. Standing postures are intended to strengthen muscles and bone, improve balance and decrease fear by gaining body awareness. In addition to the physical benefits, chair yoga can also calm the mind, reduce stress, and enhance compassion for ourselves and others, therefore enhancing quality of life! 

Space is limited for this program; registration is required. To register please use the link below or call Lakeview Library at 608-246-4547. Registration opens two weeks prior to program date.

Presented in partnership with NewBridge.

About the presenter

Kim Sprecher is a registered yoga teacher with over seven years of experience in helping older adults improve their quality of life. 

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.
 

The River Food Pantry's Munch Truck will be stopping outside Goodman South on Mondays from 3:15PM - 3:35PM.

About River Food Pantry & Munch Truck

Launched in 2016, Munch 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 or (608) 661-1223.

Join us to READ and Play together. When children engage with books, songs, and play, they develop communication skills, patience, empathy, and pre-reading skills which helps to build a lifelong love of reading. 

This program is geared toward children under age 5. All older and younger siblings as well as childcare groups are welcome to join.

Library programs are always free.

Mindfulness is the art of paying attention, of listening to your heart. Rather than worrying about the future or ruminating about the past, mindfulness can help you enjoy life more fully, effectively, and peacefully. Join us when you can to learn simple mindfulness and meditation techniques that can be incorporated into your everyday routine to reduce your stress and increase your well-being. Typically, each session will begin with a brief check-in, followed by a guided sitting meditation. Then Gloria will share reflections on some aspect of mindfulness. The group will discuss the topic and ask any questions about the practice. We will end with another sitting meditation. Experience in mindfulness or meditation is not necessary. This program is being offered both in-person and online through Zoom. If you would like to join by Zoom, please register below. Registration is not necessary for in-person attendance.

This program is part of the Live Well @ Your Library​ initiative.

The Personal Archiving Lab at Central Library is a collection of equipment that can be used to digitize at-risk analog materials like home movies video tapes audio cassettes photographs and more. Stop by the Central Library on Mondays, 2-4pm (Room 209) for a tutorial on how to use the library's Personal Archiving Lab. Tutorial duration is approximately 20-30 minutes. The instructor may not be able to accommodate those who arrive after 3:40pm.

Following the tutorial, you will be able to make an appointment during library hours to use the equipment - up to 3 hours per day - for your personal archiving project.

The Personal Archiving Lab supports the following formats: VHS and VHS-C tapes DVDs (not BluRay); audio cassettes; MiniDV and Hi-8 tapes; photographs (including negatives and slides) and other paper-based documents. It does not support 8 or 16mm reel-to-reel film or audio tape.

Patrons who use the lab must bring some form of external storage — a portable hard drive, or a thumb drive — on which digital files can be stored.

Call 608-266-6350 for more information.

In partnership with the City of Madison and Madison Public Library, the African Center for Community Development provides in-person assistance* to help offset housing costs by assisting residents with applications for services, jobs, and other financial benefits.
We provide help for people navigating application processes and filling out forms required for housing, immigration, food, health, and other community support services. For questions about the program, please call 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 are not able to fill out applications on your behalf, or assess program eligibility. 

Join us on Monday afternoon for library fun--you never know what might happen!

Projects especially chosen for the school-age crowd; all ages welcome with adult help.

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 survival and creative worlds!  There is a limited number of computers, so participants will take turns as needed.

Mondays, September 9 - November 18, 4:00-5:30pm.

A trip into the Science Technology Engineering Arts Math (STEAM) realm, this collaboration with Community Science partners will help aid patrons and families. It is setup to educate, engage, empower and expose them to all types of STEAM activities .

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.

"We will share our poems, hear some poetry set to music, and welcome the words you bring to share."

A community poetry reading featuring works by by members of Lakeview Library’s poetry group and live music by Paul Creswell. Readings followed by an open mic. 

This program is supported by the Madison Public Library Foundation.

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.

Are you struggling to carve out time to write that novel, screenplay, or other work of fiction you've always been meaning to write? Are you battling writer's block? Are you looking for people to read what you've written and provide feedback? Try Pen Pals, an all-experience-levels-welcome group for fiction writers and fiction writer hopefuls!

Once a week, bring in a laptop or notebook and surround yourself with other writers striving toward similar goals. The first hour will be dedicated to organizing feedback-swaps, discussing our projects, and collectively brainstorming solutions to story problems. The remaining hour and a half is just for writing! Pen Pals is captained by local fanfiction author Linea Kemsley, who will provide baked goods and warm beverages every week to help promote that perfect cozy writing atmosphere.

Join local chef Huma Siddiqui-Seitz for this cooking class. Huma's cooking classes are based on using Pakistani/Indian spices in simple, easy and delicious recipes. In this class, Huma's demonstration will feature Harissa Chili paste from scratch, Harissa shrimp and Mediterranean Couscous.

Registration is required. Registration opens two weeks before the program (9/16/24).