Events Calendar

Calling all babies!  Come hear a story and play with fun toys picked just for you in a relaxed atmosphere. 

For children ages birth to 2 years old. No registration required.

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 for a casual playdate for babies ages birth to 18 months and their caregivers. This neighborhood event will include play materials, books, and early literacy resources. Siblings are welcome and registration is not required.

Presentado por University League en asociación​ con la Biblioteca Sequoya. Todos son bienvenidos--no hay necesidad de ser miembro de la University League. Los libros y las discusiones son completamente en español. 

Vamos a discutir "La Tia Julia y el Escribidor," escrito por Mario Vargas Llosa.  La biblioteca Sequoya tiene más de diez copias del libro que pueden prestar. Si prestan de la biblioteca, pidan el libro en la estación de servicio e información.  Al prestar el libro, aseguren contar al bibliotecario que el libro es para el "book club"; así que se puede prestar el libro hasta el fin de junio.

Este evento tambien se realizará virtualmente a través de Zoom. Más información sobre este programa se le enviará por correo electrónico cuando se registre. Zoom es una plataforma de video gratuita, y puede mirar en un navegador, a través de la aplicación móvil gratuita para ios o android, o llamar para participar solo por voz. Para participar virtualmente a través de Zoom, por favor regístrese abajo. No es necesario registrarse para participar en persona. 

Presented by the University League in partnership with the Sequoya Library. Everyone is welcome, one does not have to be a member of University League. Books and discussion are completely in Spanish. 

This event will also be hosted virtually through Zoom; more information will be emailed to you upon registration. Zoom is a free video platform, and you can watch on a browser, through the free mobile app for ios or android, or call in to participate by voice only. If you would like to join by Zoom, please register below. Registration is not necessary for in-person attendance.

Join the Alicia Ashman book club for lively, thoughtful discussions every first Thursday of the month (excluding December). Everyone is welcome and books are available at the Checkout Desk week of the event.

This Month's Read 

Trust by Hernan Diaz 

The story of two wealthy New Yorkers in the 1920s, and at what cost they have acquired their immense fortune, is at the center of Bonds, a fictional novel that exists in conversation with the narrative of one woman bent on disentangling fact from fiction in this novel about money, power, intimacy, and perception that spans over a century.

Twisters

Directed by Lee Isaac Chung.  Performances by Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos.  Universal Pictures, 2024. 122 min.  Rated PG-13

Daisy Edgar-Jones stars as Kate Cooper, a former storm chaser haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado during her college years who now studies storm patterns on screens safely in New York City. She is lured back to the open plains by her friend, Javi (Golden Globe nominee Anthony Ramos, In the Heights) to test a groundbreaking new tracking system. There, she crosses paths with Tyler Owens (Powell), the charming and reckless social-media superstar who thrives on posting his storm-chasing adventures with his raucous crew, the more dangerous the better.

As storm season intensifies, terrifying phenomena never seen before are unleashed, and Kate, Tyler and their competing teams find themselves squarely in the paths of multiple storm systems converging over central Oklahoma in the fight of their lives.

The Munch Mobile Lunch Van will make a stop at Lakeview Library on Thursdays. All people in and around the library can get a free lunch.

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

Ready to color your way through winter with a rainbow of art projects? Join us for Warm Creativity on Cold Afternoons with Bernie & Zuzu! Returning for a mini-winter season, Bernie is back in the Pinney Library Studio from 3:30-5:30 every Thursday in Feb. and every Tuesday in March with drop-in art making projects for grown-ups, teens, and kiddos. Different surprise projects and medium(s) will be featured each week to help you add some color play to your winter day.

No registration necessary, drop-in and get creative with your friends and neighbors of all ages.

About Bernie & Zuzu:

At bernie & zuzu, we design unique, one-of-a-kind goods with bold, bright color and exuberant patterns that inspire playfulness, creativity and joy. bernie & zuzu is named for Bernie Witzack, founder and artist, and her brilliant and extraordinary cat zuzu (bios below). bernie & zuzu is run out of a studio in the Madison Enterprise Center at 100 S. Baldwin Street in Madison, Wisconsin. We screen print at Polka Press, Madison’s local printmaking collective.

Bios:

Zuzu was adopted by Bernie when she was a wee little kitten. Her favorite napping place as a kitten was a hiking boot. She has an MBA from Harvard and is a social media expert. When she’s not working as the CEO, CFO and COO of bernie & zuzu, you can find her napping in her bed in Bernie’s closet, or at the top of her cat tree. Zuzu is nineteen years young. She really, really loves watermelon.

I [Bernie] grew up in a small town south of Madison, in a home where my dad’s paintings lined the walls and my mom’s quilts covered the beds. I staged my first art show at age 9, lining my wood-paneled dining room with drawings and charging my parents’ friends a dollar a drawing. I took all the art classes I could in high school, studied Studio Art at Beloit College and earned an MFA in Fine Art from the University of Michigan. In grad school, I focused on drawing and painting, working in an improvisational and materials-based process. I never feel more connected and alive than when I am creating art. My hope is that the joy I feel when creating comes through in bernie & zuzu’s goods and inspires tiny moments of happiness, joy and wonder in our fans.

Read aloud to a furry friend from Alliance for Therapy Dogs. Bring a favorite book or try a new one from our collection. First come, first served.

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.

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.

It Takes A Village After-School Enrichment sessions are created in an effort to promote community, and a safe place for youth patrons between 12 and 18 years old. We will supply various gaming activities board games and electronic games also VR gaming

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.

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 us every 1st and 3rd Thursday, 6-8:45pm to play board games!

There will be a mix of longer-play games (Settlers of Catan, Betrayal at House on the Hill, etc) and some shorter games (Code Names, Exploding Kittens, Yahtzee, and more!)

Snacks will be provided, no registration needed!

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.

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.

Join us for a book group discussion of "The Weight of Ink" by Rachel Kadish. Books are available at the library. New members always welcome!

"Ester Velasquez is an emigrant from Amsterdam who is permitted to scribe for a blind rabbi, just before the plague hits the city. Helen Watt is an ailing historian with a love of Jewish history. When Helen is summoned by a former student to view a cache of seventeenth-century Jewish documents newly discovered in his home during a renovation, she enlists the help of Aaron Levy, an American graduate student as impatient as he is charming. In a race with another fast-moving team of historians, Helen embarks on one last project: to determine the identity of the documents' scribe, the elusive 'Aleph.'" -- Amazon.com

Share Your Love!

Share your feelings by making handmade cards for your friends and loved ones! Valentines, Galentines, Palentines, Birthday cards, Thank You cards - they all mean a little more when you make them yourself. Bernie will have some ideas for you and card stock, as well as collage and drawing materials.

This 2-hour workshop is ideal for adults and older teens 16+.  Space is limited and registration is required. Registration opens two weeks prior; please only register if you can confirm you will attend. If full, call Pinney Library information desk at 608-224-7100 to be placed on a short waiting list in case of cancellations. 

This workshop is being offered on two dates: 2/6/25 & 3/11/25 - please select just one, allowing space for other community members to try out.

About Bernie & Zuzu:

At bernie & zuzu, we design unique, one-of-a-kind goods with bold, bright color and exuberant patterns that inspire playfulness, creativity and joy. bernie & zuzu is named for Bernie Witzack, founder and artist, and her brilliant and extraordinary cat zuzu (bios below). bernie & zuzu is run out of a studio in the Madison Enterprise Center at 100 S. Baldwin Street in Madison, Wisconsin. We screen print at Polka Press, Madison’s local printmaking collective.

Bios:

Zuzu was adopted by Bernie when she was a wee little kitten. Her favorite napping place as a kitten was a hiking boot. She has an MBA from Harvard and is a social media expert. When she’s not working as the CEO, CFO and COO of bernie & zuzu, you can find her napping in her bed in Bernie’s closet, or at the top of her cat tree. Zuzu is nineteen years young. She really, really loves watermelon.

I [Bernie] grew up in a small town south of Madison, in a home where my dad’s paintings lined the walls and my mom’s quilts covered the beds. I staged my first art show at age 9, lining my wood-paneled dining room with drawings and charging my parents’ friends a dollar a drawing. I took all the art classes I could in high school, studied Studio Art at Beloit College and earned an MFA in Fine Art from the University of Michigan. In grad school, I focused on drawing and painting, working in an improvisational and materials-based process. I never feel more connected and alive than when I am creating art. My hope is that the joy I feel when creating comes through in bernie & zuzu’s goods and inspires tiny moments of happiness, joy and wonder in our fans.