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.

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 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.

Need help updating a resume or cover letter, applying for jobs online, or brushing up on basic computer skills? Sign up for a one-hour one-on-one appointment by stopping into the Central Library or calling the reference desk at 608-266-6350.

Stop by Safe Kids Madison Area's table to learn more about car seat safety! 

https://www.uwhealth.org/child-safety-advocacy

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.

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

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 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. 

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 Season 2 comes to a close. A new 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 Monday afternoons at Meadowridge Library. 

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.

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

Drop-in and play games on the library's iPads, MacBooks, and Nintendo Switch. Minecraft, Roblox, Mario Kart, & more! There is a limited number of devices, so participants will take turns as needed. Regular attendees can choose to participant in Gamer BINGO and earn prizes!

Family and friend groups are encouraged to attend and play together. 

Youth 8 years and younger must have a caregiver with them during the program. 

Chess meets the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month from 4-5:45 p.m. Come and learn chess basics in the library with a 30 minute introduction of the game and then play a friendly game of chess with an opponent. Lessons start promptly at 4 p.m., followed by an open game at 4:30 p.m. Chess club is open to all ages and skill levels. No Chess 1/1, 1/15, 9/2.

Masks are not required but recommended.

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

Join friends and neighbors for a game night! Revisit old favorites or try something brand new from the library's collection of board games and card games. Beverages and snacks will be provided.

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 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.

Many native seeds must break their dormancy via a process called cold, moist stratification. If you want to improve the chances of having transplantable seedlings in the spring, join Wisconsin Master Naturalist Alex Singer to watch a brief demonstration of making a mini-greenhouse using a transparent plastic jug or other deep plastic container with lid, followed by a hands-on demonstration of the same with Q&A.

Please bring your own container if you’d like to try your hand and take it home planted with native seeds. Tools and soil will be provided.

About the Presenter

​Alex Singer has worked with Madison library staff to build upon the vegetable seed library project, most active in the spring, to include native plant seeds, which are most often best sowed/started in the fall. Having transformed his suburban yard into a Homegrown National Park over the past decade or so by replacing the majority of turf grass with native forbs and grasses, he works to spread the news and the plant diversity via such projects as well as giving away his yard's bounty, inviting groups to tour his yard, and giving talks on native plant propagation and their importance, as well as working toward the loosening of Madison's Natural Landscape ordinance.