Events Calendar

Join us in the children's area at the Central library for an unstructured preschool playdate. We'll have engaging, open ended toys for your little one to explore while you connect and meet other preschool age children and families. There is no start time, no structured plan, rather a time to come to the library and play and expect to find other children your child's age to engage with! Siblings of course are welcome! 

A representative from the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center will be tabling in the front the library from 10am until 12pm to recruit for a research study. For more information on the open studies at Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, visit their website at https://www.adrc.wisc.edu/volunteer-study

 This Tuesday morning program gives toddlers and preschoolers the opportunity to sing, dance, explore instruments, and play! Music and movement activities promote brain development and connect us to our family and community. Join Junko Yamuachi Stewart for one of our Tuesday morning classes. The first class runs from 10:30-11 and the second class runs from 11:00-11:30.  Choose the class time that works best for you. No registration is required!

READ and PLAY together with children under age 5!

Engaging with books, songs and playful experiences all help children develop communication skills, patience, empathy, and pre-reading skills​ and helps to build a lifelong love of reading. We will start with a short storytime and then have playtime.

Library programs are always free. Siblings and childcare groups are welcome.

Are you behind on your rent because of the pandemic, either directly or indirectly? You are not alone. Many people are experiencing financial hardship right now.The African Center for Community Development will be located at the Lakeview Library on Tuesdays, 11:00 am - 5:00 pm, to help individuals and families who owe back rent apply for Dane Core assistance. Eligible households in need of rental and utility assistance should stop by.

Calling all school age kids! Join us for a week of fun activities at the library during MMSD's spring break!

Today we will be decorating our own canvas pencil bags! Use a variety of supplies to customize your bag!

Join Author & Story Coach, Catrina J. Sparkman for a five week interactive class on how to release your inner storyteller. Whether you are penning your own personal memoir for posterity, crafting fictionalize stories for publication, or even if you just simply want to entertain the grandkids, come and learn the essential keys that make great stories work and how to engage your audience so that they’ll want to hear those stories again and again.

Week 1: Meet the Author (Book Reading Q&A Catrina) (February 28th  12:30-2pm)
 

Week 2:Essential Elements of Story:  A Storyteller’s Tool Kit (March 7th  12:30-2pm)

• PowerPoint Presentation
• Story Building Exercise 
• Share Out 

Week 3: Building Unforgettable Characters (March 14th 12:30-2pm)

• PowerPoint Presentation
• Story Building Exercise 
• Share Out 

Week 4: Creating Nail Biting Conflict (March 21st 12:30-2pm)

• PowerPoint Presentation
• Story Building Exercise 
• Share Out 

Week 5: Understanding Plot and Structure (March 28th 12:30-2pm)

• PowerPoint Presentation
• Story Building Exercise 
• Share Out 

Please note: If you registered for the first session, you do not need to re-register.

Happy Spring Break! Swing by the central library and spend some time making a fun, spring themed craft in the children's programming room. Grab some wonderful books from our collection to read and take home, or stay for a while to read and play. There will be a different activity each day this week. Suggested for kids ages 5 and up, siblings welcome. 

Are you looking for something to do on a day without school?  Stop by the library and make a craft!  We will have a different project each day this week.  Stop by to make your craft and pick up a book or movie to take home with you.

Today we are making spring flower pistures.

Do you love to have fun? Be silly? Tell stories? Whoopensocker is for you!  Whoopensocker teaching artists have been working with local elementary school students in Madison for years. 

To help kick off the We Read Youth Voices Writing contest for 2023, we are delighted to welcome their teaching artists to the library for fun, interactive workshops that encourage creativity, expression, writing, collaboration, and performance. 

Community teaching artists will engage kiddos to share their great ideas through games, writing, and performance. No pressure, just fun. No previous experience necessary, all ideas are good ideas! 

This workshop is designed for kids ages 7 and up.

Free COVID-19 vaccines and boosters at the Lakeview Library, administered by Public Health Madison & Dane County!

1st, 2nd, or booster doses of Pfizer and Moderna available while supplies last.

Everyone 6 months and older is welcome. 6 months-17 year olds need a parent or guardian present.

Walk-ins encouraged. Appointments are available but not required. Please visit https://publichealthmdc.com/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccine/vaccination-appointments to book an appointment.

No ID or insurance required.

Join us for this series teaching the fundamentals of film making! Nate Clark from the Bubbler will be teaching this engaging series where teens and tweens will create an informational video about Meadowridge Library! Nate is an animator and filmmaker working in both the video game and film industry. He has worked on award winning games and films, and local independent films in the city of Madison. Professional projects Nate has worked on have been nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, the BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects, Game of the Year, Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer Movie: Drama, and the BFCA Critics Choice Award for Best Visual Effects. Nate has been working with the Madison Public Library since 2012, and the Media Lab at the Madison Public Library since its inception in 2013. Nate will be attending every other session and teen services librarian, Rachel, will be running the other work sessions. Nate's sessions will be 2/28, 3/14, 3/28, 4/11, 4/25, 5/9, 5/23, and 6/6.

This week will continue working on script writing. 

Come try a different hands-on project. All materials are provided and take what you make with you when you leave.

Youth 5 and under will require extra assistance from a caregiver. This workshop will take place in the Children's Space.

Join The Kids Chef, Lily Kilfoy, for a series of cooking classes for school-age kids, tweens, and their families. Participants will learn about different foods, where they come from, how to follow recipes, and how to use a variety of tools.  Registration is not required, but participation will be limited to the first 25 attendees. Food generously provided by Willy St. Co-op North.

Join us March 28th from 5:30pm-7pm at Goodman South Madison Library to meet other gardeners and join in on conversations about seeds and seedlings. Do you garden on a small scale and have also wondered about how to save seeds, store them, then start your own seedlings with them? Gardners from Rooted will be on hand to answer all of your questions.

Visit our Seed Library before or after to pick up a variety of fruit, vegetable, herb, and flower seeds.