We Read Activities: Summer 2023

The Madison Public Library wants to inspire youth to read and engage in cool programs this summer. WE READ is our invitation to your family,  to check out all of the free activities and resources your library provides and to join in the summer fun!  

We Read is made possible thanks to support from Ascendium Education Group, Steve Stricker American Family Insurance Foundation, Madison Public Library Foundation, Dick Goldberg & Lisa Munro, and David Wood & Jane Doughty.

• We Read Card Game: NEW THIS YEAR! Pick up your deck of We Read cards at any Madison Public Library location or the Dream Bus starting June 8. The deck includes four types of cards:
  • Connect Cards suggest an activity that focuses on reading + relationships. 
  • Challenge Cards offer an activity that will take a little more time and effort. 
  • Share Cards ask you to tell the library about your reading adventures. 
  • Prize Cards are what you get when you complete one of the three action cards listed above. Some cards (the ones with the little orange star) also have the option for kids to come into the library to pick up a prize in-person from one of our library locations!
• Bubbler in the Neighborhood: Madison Public Library is excited to host this successful program for a second year. Each Madison Public Library has been partnered with a Bubbler community artist for the summer. Each artist will plan art and making programs at their library from June-August geared toward kids and families. Bubbler artists will also be attending community events in each neighborhood to provide support and fun activities. See which artist will be at your location and stop in this summer to engage with them!
• We Read Youth Voices Writer's Contest: Madison Public Library, Forward Madison, and the Wisconsin Book Festival partnered to host the We Read Youth Voices Writing Contest once again this year. Over 140 aspiring writers aged 18 and under submitted short stories, poems, songs, etc. around the theme Moving Forward - Together between April 3-June 30, 2023. Selected winners and finalists will be published in the second edition of the We Read Youth Voices Anthology in the fall. Head over to madpl.org/youthvoices to learn more about the contest and visit madpl.org/youthvoicesanthology to read and listen to past stories. 

The contest is sponsored by the Madison Public Library Foundation. 

See the list of events and programs you can participate in over the next 30 days below (additional programs are available on madpl.org/calendar):