Posts filed under 'Community Issues'
The Madison Common Council adjourned for the night near 12:30 a.m. - watch the continued discussion live on Madison City Channel on your TV or online beginning 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, November 11.
During Tuesday evening’s Council discussions, an amendment was approved to explore the possibility of a community garden on the roof of the Central Library and another amendment was approved to ensure that construction would not begin until the tax credits were available.
Read more at City council agrees on Central Library plan (Wisconsin State Journal online, 11/11/09) or Laptop City Hall: Annual City Budget Live Blog, Day 1 (Capital Times online, 11/11/09) or follow the project on the library’s web site.
November 11th, 2009
Tana
Tales from Planet Earth (TfPE) showcases environmental films from around the world in a three-day festival and several other community engagement events in Madison, November 6-8, 2009. This free festival of environmental film takes place primarily around downtown at MMoCA and First United Methodist Church, and on campus at Memorial Union, and the UW Cinematheque.
The theme for this year’s festival is Justice and the films are organized through four primary strands: Landscapes of Labor, Precious Resources, Strange Weather and In the Company of Animals. All events are free to the public. The complete schedule and map of theaters is available on the festival website.
Some films previously featured at the festival include Everything’s Cool, Flock of Dodos, MicroCosmos, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, and The Return of Navajo Boy, all available at the library.
If you are looking for more environmental resources, visit Greening Our World, a list of library materials that focus on earth friendly living.
November 2nd, 2009
Molly
The Alicia Ashman Branch of Madison Public Library was the backdrop of an October 27, 2009, press conference announcing grants totalling $1 million to Madison and Milwaukee for advancing their solar energy development programs . Mayor Cieslewicz, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Governor Doyle, and Tehri Parker of Midwest Renewable Energy Association were in attendance. The Alicia Ashman Branch Library hosts one of the city’s solar power installations as part of the MadiSUN Solar Energy Program. Read more about the grant at Letter From Here’s Talking about sunny money on a rainy day, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Milwaukee, Madison awarded $1 million for solar expansion or WKOW-TV’s Federal dollars to develop Wis. solar energy, or learn more about the MadiSUN solar energy project. Photo by Peter Patau.
October 27th, 2009
Tana
“Sustainability is the ability to meet our needs without compromising the needs of future generations.” Join the City of Madison in an important effort in developing the City’s Sustainability Plan. Please come and learn about what the city is doing to make Madison’s community, economy and environment sustainable and voice your priorities to shape upcoming efforts that will improve and sustain our quality of life now and for generations to come.
October 8th, 2009
Alicia
If you have the need or desire to collect demographic data, you must try DemographicsNow Now! So easy to use–you can customize results by geography, choosing the area best suited to your needs. Established businesses, prospective entrepreneurs, business students, and anyone who needs to identify cultural patterns or sociological trends will benefit from this ultra flexible marketing tool. Listen to a 3 minute introductory webcast or be guided through more detailed search tips. Access to DemographicsNow is made possible through a Madison Community Foundation collection grant to the Central Library for small business and entrepreneurship. The database was chosen with the input of several area business and entrepreneur groups.
And there’s more! If you’d like to search both Madison Newspapers or the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, whether it’s for an article, an obituary, or just to browse a day’s events, you’ll find NewsBank to be just the ticket. NewsBank is an easy-to-use newspaper archive containing full text articles from the Wisconsin State Journal (1989- present), Capital Times (1989- present), and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (1990-present). Updated daily, entries exclude advertisements, employment ads and classifieds. You’ll find detailed searching information here. Due to licensing restrictions, both DemographicsNow and NewsBank are only available to customers who visit a Madison Public Library and remotely to Madison residents with valid library cards. We are in the process of arranging access through the library’s wireless networks for those who want to use the database in the library but on their own machines.
These are the newest additions to the library’s extensive list of databases. Searching from home has never been easier.
October 7th, 2009
terrymc
The Lakeview Branch co-hosted an In Defense of Food book discussion and community potluck at Troy Gardens on Wednesday, September 23rd.
Thirteen hungry people had lovely weather to eat and discuss food at Troy Gardens, on Madison’s North side. Claire Strader, farmer for Troy Community Farm, brought her personal perspective as an urban organic farmer - and some of the best hummus and carrots ever eaten. Warm bread filled with herbs grown within a stone’s throw of the potluck site was served.
Kitchen gardeners, cooks, a school food service worker, a new dad with a degree in soil science, and an urban forager concluded there are no easy 
answers to a complex of food-related issues that include the pros and cons of industrial organic farms, home-cooking as a lost art, food pantries with their special requirements for longer shelf life and low cost and the ‘can local ever trump organic?’ question.
Local food writer Vesna Vuynovich Kovach wore a t-shirt to the book discussion and potluck featuring this clever cheese graphic, and got author Michael Pollan to sign it at the Go Big Read event at the Kohl Center on Thursday night.
September 29th, 2009
Katie S.
Would you like a chance to discuss plans for a new Central Library with members of the Madison Public Library Board? Bring your questions to a series of meetings at multiple branch locations beginning on Monday, September 21.
- Monday, September 21 at 6:00 p.m.: speak with MPL Board members Dave Wallner and Allen Arntsen at the Hawthorne Library
- Tuesday, September 22 at 6:45 p.m.: speak with MPL Board members Barb Karlen and Allen Arntsen at the Lakeview Library
- Wednesday, September 23 at 5:30 p.m.: speak with MPL Board President Tripp Widder at the Alicia Ashman Library
- Friday, September 25 at 7:00 p.m.: speak with MPL Board members Dave Wallner, Ann Falconer and Greg Markle at the Pinney Library
- Monday, September 28 at 5:30 p.m.: speak with MPL Board President Tripp Widder at the Sequoya Library
- Tuesday, September 29 at 6:00 p.m.: speak with MPL Board members Allen Arntsen and Tracy Kuczenski at the Meadowridge Library
Unable to attend? Want to be notified about upcoming meetings? Sign up for email updates.
September 18th, 2009
Alicia
Thanks to a project from Madison Public Library, the South Central Library System, and Madison Area Technical College, job seekers now have the opportunity to attend a workshop, geared towards displaced workers, on developing skills for job searching. On Tuesday, September 15, 5:30 - 8 p.m. at South Madison Library, join MATC librarians for help writing cover letters and resumes that will get you noticed, as they give advice, tips and templates for making easy and effective introductory materials. You will need to have basic computer skills to attend this workshop. A ninety-minute training session, beginning at 5:30, will be followed by an hour of “open office” consultation for those seeking personalized assistance working through changes in their careers. Register online or call 266-6395.
The Central Library is also offering drop-in job assistance workshops on Monday afternoons, beginning on September 14, from 1 - 4 p.m. Co-sponsored by Madison Public Library, the Madison Senior Center, and the UW-Writing Center, these weekly workshops are offered to help help interested individuals
- write resumes and cover letters
- use credible job search web sites
- apply for jobs online
- establish free, web-based email accounts for job search contacts.
Interested job seekers may register for half-hour training sessions by calling 266-6350. Drop-ins are welcome and will be accommodated on a first-come, first-served basis. More information about classes at Madison Public Library
September 12th, 2009
Alicia
It’s attainable! Be sustainable in September with a series of sustainable living programs at the Sequoya Branch.
On Thursday, September 17 at 7 p.m., become a part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s first common book program with Susan Lampert Smith. Join Susan, Science Writer and Senior Lecturer at the UW and former columnist at the Wisconsin State Journal, to discuss Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food, being read community wide for Go Big Read. Pollan’s book is a tough, witty discourse on why food is more than the sum of its nutritional parts. Susan and her husband Matt Smith are the owners of Blue Valley Gardens, a certified organic fruit and vegetable farm located 30 miles west of Madison. Reserve a copy of In Defense of Food online.
Learn more about Green Partnerships at the Madison Public Library. Interested in more resources and programming about sustainable living? Visit the Sustainable Living collection at the Pinney Branch, sponsored by a generous grant from the Madison Community Foundation. Check out resources for “Greening Our World”, supported by Madison Gas & Electric.
September 4th, 2009
Alicia
Please join us for a series of programs planned in conjunction with RSVP of Dane County on topics of interest to seniors. On Saturday, September 5 at 10 a.m., John K. Leonard, Ph.D.-Professor of Religious Studies at Edgewood College of the Sacred Heart will present a program “Spirituality and Your Personal Beliefs in the Bonus Years” at Edgewood College, Predolin Hall Rm. 114. Snacks will be provided. More information about Programs in Partnership between Madison Public Library and RSVP.
September 3rd, 2009
Alicia
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