We’d also like to take this opportunity to thank all our staff for a job well done. In addition to the people you see every day when you visit the library, there are many more employees that keep library service running smoothly. Our staff select, order, purchase, catalog, label, deliver, and repair the 1.1 million items in our collection, and we work with libraries throughout the South Central Wisconsin area and beyond to share our materials for your benefit. Other staff keep the sidewalks clean, the bathrooms working, the carpet vacuumed, the books shelved, and the holds filled. Still more staff take programs and resources out into the community, working with other city agencies, nonprofit groups, neighborhood associations, local businesses, and funding sources to share library resources with those learning to read, looking for jobs, or wanting to learn more about practically any subject.

And if a library visit isn’t exciting enough, there’s always the Public Services Recognition event on Wednesday, May 7 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Join Mayor Dave Cieslewicz at noon on the steps of City Hall, or stop by the first block of Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. near the Capitol to meet representatives from the Police Department, Fire Department, Metro Transit, and the Streets Department, and some of their equipment.

Public Service Recognition week is a time to help every citizen become more aware of the ways, both direct and indirect, that public services improve the quality of their lives. It is also a chance to highlight our accomplishments, to raise awareness of the good work City employees do every day, and to express appreciation for those efforts. The week offers an opportunity to celebrate the importance of contributions made by Madison’s public servants.

In the meantime, we are also beginning the interior construction of the expanded Sequoya Library, and in the beginning stages of building a new South Madison Library in the Villager Mall. It’s a busy time for the library. To help you - and us - keep track of all the changes, we’ve created a new page with updates about current or proposed library building projects. It also includes some demographic and library data the Library Board is using to plan for future library use and buildings. Stay tuned! Or, subscribe to the Check It Out email newsletter to receive regular updates of library news and events.

As the name implies, Free Comic Book Day is a single day when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world are giving away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their stores.

In addition to comic shops, a selection of the Free Comic Book Day comics will be available at the following Madison Public Library locations, courtesy of Westfield’s Comics and Capital City Comics:

Alicia Ashman Branch
Central Library — in the Youth Services Department, 2nd floor
Meadowridge Branch
Sequoya Branch

Be sure to visit local comic book stores for even more great free comic book titles!

If you are new to comics or returning after not reading them for awhile, some useful links are available here.

The new long-awaited Sequoya Branch will occupy 20,000 square feet at street level in Sequoya Commons, a mixed use residential, retail and public library development. The Library is the first in Madison to seek LEED certification for a green building, and the building itself will serve as a demonstration project — educating library users about sustainable buildings. The Library will feature 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 will be 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 30 Internet access computer stations with centralized printing, as well as full WI-FI availability for lap-top users, and the option of self-service checkout. Plus, of course, nearly 120,000 assorted books and media and, access to valuable proprietary informational and educational databases through the LINK system.

Miron Construction was awarded the contract for the build-out of the Library’s condominium space, and will begin working soon from the plans and specifications developed by EngbergAnderson Design Professionals, the architects who, working with staff, will make this new, empty space a great library destination in the heart of Madison’s west side. We hope to open the new branch in October; the Sequoya Branch will remain operational at its current site on Midvale Boulevard until the new space is ready for occupancy.

An active and very successful Sequoya Branch Fundraising Committee has been working with the Madison Public Library Foundation and has raised over a million dollars for this project, budgeted at $5.6 million. Thanks to the generosity of major donors, Friends, neighbors, local authors, and the Foundation for helping to make this new branch happen.

Watch the progress of the building with periodic updates of the construction process on the Sequoya Flickr photosharing page, or read updates on our Sequoya web page.

Public feedback was solicited on an interim report. A draft final report has been created incorporating this feedback along with further exploration and discussions by the committee.

Public meetings have been scheduled to again ask for input. After public input has been recorded and reviewed by the committee, a final report will be provided to the Mayor’s office.  Attend a meeting:

• Thursday, April 10, 5:30 p.m. - Lakeview Library, 2845 N. Sherman Ave.
• Monday, April 14, 5:30 - UW 1651 Humanities Building, 455 N. Park St.
• Wednesday, April 16, 5:30 - Sequoya Library, 513 S. Midvale Blvd.

Can’t attend a meeting?  Read the draft final report, then take this online survey.

Mr. Bakopoulos’ first novel, Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon, was selected by the New York Times as one of 100 Notable Books of 2005 and received “Book of the Year” awards from the New York Public Library, the Council of Wisconsin Writers, the Library of Michigan, and the Friends of American Writers. Recipient of a 2006-7 National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, he is at work on a second novel to be published by Harcourt in 2008. Mr. Bakopoulos was Director of the Wisconsin Humanities Council. He has recently accepted the position of Director/Writer-in-Residence for the Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts in Mineral Point, Wisconsin.

This is one of several special neighborhood author events to benefit the new Sequoya Branch of the Madison Public Library. There will be a special preview of the design for the new library, and refreshments will be served.

 Mr. DeVita has performed lead roles, ranging from “Romeo and Juliet” to “A Moon for the Misbegotten,” at the American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin as well as in many local productions. He is the author of two novels, Blue and The Silenced. Mr. Devita has also written more than 16 plays and adaptations of classics for young audiences for which he has won a number of awards.

This is one of several special neighborhood author events to benefit the new Sequoya Branch of the Madison Public Library. There will be a special preview of the design for the new library, and refreshments will be served.

Dr. McConnell, in addition to teaching at the UW-Madison, owns Dog’s Best Friends, Ltd. She evaluates and treats serious behavioral problems in dogs, oversees science-based dog training classes, publishes books and videos and speaks around the world on training and treating dog and cat behavior problems. She is co-host of Calling All Pets on Wisconsin Public Radio, and the author of The Other End of the Leash.

This is one of several special neighborhood author events to benefit the new Sequoya Branch of the Madison Public Library. There will be a special preview of the design for the new library, and refreshments will be served.

Even before we close, we recognize that returning library books or picking up holds are not top priority in winter storm weather.  If you were unable to pick up a hold or return an item on time due to weather, please let us know.  Our staff will do their best to credit any late charges or to replace lapsed holds - for today, and all days affected by exceptional weather.

And now is a good time to remind you that:

• any item returned to any book drop before we open is considered returned the previous day.
• you can renew most items online at http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org (choose “LINKcat”) or via Telecirc at 261-9851. Items must be renewed by 10 p.m. on the day that they are due.
• you can call us or email us or chat online with a librarian if you have a question.

For more closing updates see the City of Madison news releases and the Channel3 web site, or watch your local news.