The Sequoya Branch Library Opens Thursday
The much-anticipated new Sequoya Branch of Madison Public Library will officially open to the public at 9 a.m. tomorrow.
“We appreciate the enthusiasm of the many library customers who are excited for us to open, as well as the generosity and efforts of the many donors and staff who helped make this Sequoya Branch Library renaissance possible,” said Jane Roughen, Community Services Manager for Branch Libraries. “It’s a significantly larger library, zoned and equipped to support quiet individual pursuits and livelier group activities.”
The library, expanded to 20,000 square feet from 12,000 square feet, features a special children’s area with sections devoted to early literacy and family reading, an area especially for teens, and a hearth room for quiet reading. There is a large community room for neighborhood meetings and programs, and smaller conference rooms for study groups, small meetings and tutoring. The new Sequoya will offer expanded Internet access computer stations with centralized printing, as well as full WI-FI availability for laptop users, the option of self-service checkout and nearly 120,000 assorted books and media as well as access to valuable subscription-based informational and educational databases through the LINK system. Sequoya is the busiest Madison Public Library branch, with 279,000 visits and 690,000 items checked out this year.
The new library is a departure from the decor of more recently remodeled Madison libraries in that it has a more structural feel, with some exposed elements and bright accent colors. Sequoya construction incorporated many “green” elements such as natural/renewable materials and finishes, and kind-to-the-environment features like a greywater system that collects rainwater from the roof for toilet flushing. The new Sequoya Branch will earn LEED certification as green building, and the building itself will serve as a demonstration project — educating library users about sustainable buildings through a self-guided tour featuring the many environmentally sound decisions and practices that went into the library’s design.
The library’s new address is 4340 Tokay Boulevard, and the phone number will remain 266-6385. The library is open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Children’s programming will resume the week of December 1. Library customers can once again reserve materials to be picked up at the Sequoya Branch through the LINKcat library catalog at www.madisonpubliclibrary.org.
Beginning Sunday, January 11, 2009, the library will also be open Sunday afternoons from 1 - 5 p.m. through April 26, 2009. These Sunday hours were funded by the Madison Public Library Foundation.
Save the date to attend the Grand Opening Celebration on Monday, December 8 from 4:30 – 6 p.m. This is a free, community event that will include tours, entertainment, and an appearance by Mayor Cieslewicz.
See updates and photos of the new library, or contact Jane Roughen, Community Services Manager of Branch Libraries, at jroughen @ cityofmadison.com or 266-8685 for more information.
Entry Filed under: Community Issues, Events, Sequoya Updates
10 Comments Add your own
1. Jack | November 19th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
I just want to thank the many donors and the many prople who worked so hard to make this library possible. I walked by last night and it looks awsome! I can’t wait to see the inside!
2. andrea | November 19th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
YAY!!!
3. Marcy | November 20th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Hurrah!!! Thank you to all the staff for all your hard work in the move–looking forward to the beautiful new space!
4. Gregory Reed | December 9th, 2008 at 10:49 am
I wanted to say how much I love the new hold wall. It’s one less step that I’m glad to do myself since I’m already asking you to put it on hold for me in the first place. It makes me feel part of the system, and I think it’s fun. Also, nice use of rainwater and the new flush handles in the bathrooms! Very modern.
5. Katie | December 17th, 2008 at 10:25 am
I thought that the new library was very cold. It didn’t have that warm feeling that a library should have. Also, I was disappointed in the collection. There were hardly any books to check out and when I went to check out a DVD for my son there were only three children’s DVDs! Other branches have shelves of DVDs. I hope that there is a plan for more collection development so I can continue to go to Sequoya. Otherwise it isn’t worth my time and I need to go to other branches.
6. Tana | December 20th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Katie, many boxes of material are still being returned to Sequoya after being in storage during the move. Unfortunately, this temporary shortage is very evident in children’s DVDs. Because of the volume of traffic, storage boxes are being delivered to Sequoya in small batches, so you’ll see that over the next month, the collection will gradually grow to its pre-move size.
7. Mary Murphy | December 20th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
What a beautiful space - and a fun children’s area! We’re looking forward to coming more frequently!
Congratulations!
Mary
8. Sheilah | January 2nd, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Horrible! Horrible parking. Horrible signage. Horrible division of collections so that similar formats are separated into totally different areas of the the libraray and can’t be found. The self check out machines never, never, never, never work smoothly. And, where is the organization for the self check-in machines, for the library as a whole. Horrible! Horrible! Give me back the old library witht he leaking roof. At least the security worked. The check out worked. I go to my neighborhood library now, and I just have the worst experiences. I will no longer donate money or books to the library after years and years of giving to the library. It is a catastrophe. I would be willing to give up your Sunday hours, or a little work and attention given to all the things I mention above.
9. Dee | January 4th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
I’m happy to use self-checkout, but it’s not labelled/signed, so I had to ask a person (!) where to find it. Then, it took 5 tries with the same PIN for it to allow me to check out my books. Not very user-friendly.
10. Ling | January 5th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
I don’t know what that poster #8 (Sheila) is talking about. I love the newly added self-checkout machines. We used to have to wait in line for quite a while to check out anything during busy times. I admit it took me a little extra time to find out where the self-checkout machines are located and to get used to using one of them correctly. But once I got the hang of it, it worked like a charm and took no time at all. And I love the fact that I can just walk up to the hold wall and find my holds on my own. It saves a lot of staff time and effort and it really is a lot of fun learning to get around the new place. Besides, the staff there were very friendly and helpful, which made my initially experience pretty much painless.
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