Library Services and Collections

Madison Public Library offers a wide range of services and collections for Madison residents.

Audiobooks

• Recommended Audiobooks
• Overdrive Downloadable Audiobooks
• Playaway Audiobooks

BiFolkal Kits

Bifolkal kits are multi-sensory kits including photographs, old advertisements, music from bygone eras, and even actual objects captured from another time (player piano rolls, jacks in a leather pouch, paint samples from classic cars). All kits include either a slide show or video.  Nursing home staff or your library can book a kit by calling us at 266-6300. Typical loan period is usually a week or two. Find a complete list of all kits or slide binders ("Slideas") owned by Madison Public Library or see http://www.bifolkal.org/ for more information about the kits.

Book Discussion Kits

Check out our book discussion kits, complete with books, author information, discussion questions and more.

Children's Materials

Madison Public Library has children's materials available in a variety of formats. The Youth Services department also recommends many book and audiocassette titles for children and young adults.  See all services for children, teens, and families.

Computer and Internet Use

All libraries have access to the Internet using Microsoft Internet Explorer and high-speed connections. Most libraries also have Microsoft Word, and many have Microsoft Excel, Access, PowerPoint, and FrontPage. Find out more about computer options and policies or reserve a computer now.

Electronic Books

Over 8,000 electronic books are available through a partnership with the Wisconsin Public Library Consortium and netLibrary. Find out more about netLibrary or other electronic books.

Ellison Die Machine

The Ellison Die machine uses templates for cutting out paper shapes for classroom decoration, bookmarks, nametags, or other decorative uses. The machine and its templates can be used at the Alicia Ashman branch. Call ahead to find a list of dies and place holds on them. They'll be reserved for you, and you'll be called when they are available for you to use in the library. Call 824-1780 for more information.

Framed Art Reproductions

Bare walls? The library has framed art reproductions available for check out. To find a list of titles, search our catalog by Keyword using "art reproduction" as the Main Word in TITLE. Several libraries offer Framed Art Reproductions for loan, and loan periods vary.

Email Newsletters

Find out what's new and popular at the library, including a list of additions to the web site, programs for children and adults, and more. The Check It Out enewsletter is published twice a month; other newsletters vary. View descriptions or sign up online. Information is also published on our blog, Check It Out.

Equipment Rental

The library rents energy meters and watt meters, engravers, and various audiovisual equipment and assistive devices.

Events and Classes

Visit our listing of events from preschool story times to adult book discussions. Search for or sign up for events online.

Government Publications

Government publications are available from Madison Public Library in paper format, in CD-ROM/DVD format, through the Internet and via the LINKcat online catalog..

Home Services

Madison Public Library's Home Service program supplies books to individuals at home who are unable to use the library due to an ongoing physical condition, as well as Retirement Homes and Assisted Living, Health Care and Adult Day Care Facilities. Call 608-266-6314 for more information.

Interlibrary Loan

If you are looking for a book that you are unable to find in LINKcat, you may request that we borrow it from another library (Interlibrary Loan) or that we purchase it.

Large Print

Large print books are available at all library locations. A list of new large print books is published each spring and fall and is available at all libaries and online.

To find large print books using LINKcat, choose an author or subject in which you are interested. Limit to "large print" using the limit options on the top right of the screen.

Literacy and Tutoring

The Central Library and all the branches offer materials to help adult new readers improve their reading skills. These materials include simplified versions of popular mystery and adventure novels, biographies, materials for improving job and parenting skills, and basic books on mathematics and science. Among these are materials on teaching and learning English as a Second Language (ESL), for adults new to this country. Teachers of ESL and basic literacy will also find teachers' guides in our collections. Many local organizations provide literacy tutoring and English literacy tutoring. The South Madison Branch also offers writing assistance and Spanish-language assistance.

The following organizations offer literacy tutoring or English literacy tutoring:

Local Materials

The Local Materials area of the Central Library contains materials about Madison, Dane County & Wisconsin history -- past and present. These materials include books, pamphlets, and newspaper clippings, maps, government documents, newspaper and periodical indexes. For more information about local history, see our recommended internet sites on Madison and Dane County history, our Research Guide to Local History, or information about obtaining an obituary from the library.

Meeting Rooms

Meeting rooms are available at all library locations. See our meeting room policies and application forms for the Central Library or for Branch libraries.

Movies on Videocassette and DVD

A large collection of children’s, feature, and special interest videos and DVDs are located at all libraries.

Recommended Videos and DVDs

Music

Compact disc recordings of all types of music are available at all libraries.

New Music on CD

The audiovisual department of the Central library has a circulating collection of scores of the standard classical repertoire as well as songbooks of Broadway musicals, folk, religion, & some standard popular music. All books are indexed by song title in our song index database. Call the audiovisual department at 608-266-6311 to obtain the score for a song title.

Next Chapter Retirement Collection

THE NEXT CHAPTER collection, created with a gift to the library from Bob and Carroll Heideman and RSVP, is a one-stop shop where retirees or persons approaching retirement can find the information they need to take charge of their future and create a life they love living. The collection consists of books, DVDs, magazines, and other information, complimented by an electronic newsletter sent every other month. Currently housed at the Alicia Ashman Branch, the collection is supplemented by related materials in all Madison Public libraries.

Obituaries

Librarians can obtain obituaries in the Wisconsin State Journal or the Capital Times. See our obituary page for details. Other obituaries can sometimes be obtained by Interlibrary Loan.

Playaway Audiobooks

Playaway audiobooks are books already loaded on MP3 devices that you check out.  You can find them in LINKcat by searching for Title Main Words = playaway digital   You'll be able to browse the 230+ titles in alphabetical order, and place holds on the titles.  This is a new collection and only some libraries have them - owning libraries are currently Monroe, Stoughton, Verona, Madison-Central, Belleville, Sauk City, Marshall, Cambridge, New Glarus, Cross Plains, and Middleton Public Libraries.

Photocopy and Printing Services

All libraries offer access to a black and white photocopier and a black and white laser printer. Photocopies or printed pages are $.10 per page, even if you bring your own paper. No library has a color copier, color printer, or fax machine available for customers at this time.

Reading, Viewing and Listening Suggestions

We provide recommendations, booklists, and new title lists for books, movies, music, and audiocassettes. Check out our suggestions: for children or for adults

Reference Service

The Central library has the largest reference collection but all locations have reference materials including everything from dictionaries and encyclopedias to maps to telephone books to works on a variety of subjects. The Central library also subscribes to a variety of CD-ROM and Internet databases including ReferenceUSA (company research), ValueLine (stock information), NoveList (book and author information), HeritageQuest and AncestryLibrary (genealogy), LearningExpress (practice job and school-related tests) and more. All libraries have access to reference databases providing magazine and newspaper articles and resources on literature. Additional reference resources include the library's recommended internet sites by subject.

Reference inquiries are accepted in person or by phone at all library locations and the main reference desk at the Central library. Reference questions are also accepted via email or real-time online chat.

Rental Collections

High-demand materials are available additional, rental copies for your convenience. Current charges for rental materials are:

• Books - $2 for 7 days
• Videos and DVDs - $2 for 7 days

Request for Purchase

If we don't own an item and it is still available for purchase, you may request that we buy it. If we choose to do so, you will be the first to reserve it if you choose.

Services for Persons with Special Needs

Madison Public Library has many services for persons with special needs, including described videos, home delivery of materials, equipment rental, and accessible meeting rooms. Find out more about our full range of assistance available.

Summer Library Program

Each summer (June through August) our Youth Services Department offers a series of programs, reading incentives, and activities called our Summer Library Program. See pictures from the 2007 Summer Library Program finale on Flickr.

Talking Books

Through arrangement with staff at the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (Milwaukee Public Library System), the Central Library now houses a small, rotating collection of Talking Books.  To use the collection, you will need to be a registered user of the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. 

You may call 266-6314 or stop by the Central Library Help Desk to request an application, or download it directly from the Internet at http://www.loc.gov/nls/pdf/application.pdf and mail it to

Wisconsin Regional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
813 West Wells Street
Milwaukee, WI 53233-1436

Once the application is processed,you will be issued a 4-track player necessary to play Talking Books.  Talking Books do not work on standard cassette players.

To inquire about titles or to check out talking books, contact Home/Low Vision Services staff at 266-6314, or in person at Central Library’s help desk. Titles can be sent to branches for pick-up or mailed to individuals in the program.    

Tours and Training

All libraries offer general tours of the library, some computer training, or can refer you to appropriate staff for more specific training or group presentations on a general topic. For tours of the youth services area or summer library program presentations, contact the Youth Services Department at 608-266-6345. For tours of the library, contact the library you wish to visit. For special presentations on how to use the library's electronic resources for business, school, or personal use, contact the Reference Department at 608-266-6350.

Translation

The library offers two translation services to help our customers use the library. You or someone helping you may request that your librarian contact TeleInterpreters, a telephone translation service that will help you interact with the library. Spanish-language assistance is also available at the South Madison Branch library on Wednesdays from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Wireless

The library offers free wireless internet at all library locations during the hours the libraries are open. See staff for wireless access code and to locate an electrical outlet.

World Languages Collection

Instructional language records, cassettes, CD's and videos are available in the audiovisual department at the Central Library, with more limited collections at the branches. Foreign language feature videos are available at the Central Library.

The Central Library has dictionaries and books for learning 68 different languages. For over 25 of those languages we have a representative sampling of fiction and nonfiction books in the language. The Spanish collection is the largest and covers a wide variety of subjects, including books and tapes for English speakers learning Spanish and for Spanish speakers learning English; guides for citizenship, employment, and high school equivalency; cookbooks, car repair manuals, general self-help books and a wide variety of Spanish, Latin American, and South American literature. The Central Library also has a few magazines in Spanish, French and German.

All branch libraries also own dictionaries, language primers, language tapes and videocassettes in the more popular languages. The Sequoya Branch has a foreign language fiction collection.

Children's materials are available in world languages as well. Many branches have small collections of materials in Spanish and other languages, and the Central and South Madison branch have more extensive collections of children's materials in other languages.

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