Support Our Annual Fund
10 PERCENT OF gifts Go TO ENDOWMENT TO SUSTAIN LIBRARIES
Support the Modern-Day Library Experience
It’s a pleasure to introduce myself as Madison Public Library Foundation’s new Executive Director. Although this is a new role for me, I’m no stranger to the library: For 10 years, I served the foundation and library through the lens of the Wisconsin Book Festival, designing free, year-round author events for a community that loves and celebrates books and writing.
While we know that books and reading materials are traditionally at the center of every library, today I want to share with you some surprising new things you can discover at Madison Public Library — and invite you to become a part of the movement to support the modern-day library experience with a gift to our annual fund.
With each year, Madison’s library system becomes more vibrant, innovative, and reflective of the community because YOU inspire the programs, resources, technology, and collections it offers. Library staff respond to patrons’ ideas and apply for Madison Public Library Foundation grants — aka donor contributions — to make them happen.
For instance, did you know you can:
• convert your VHS tapes, audio cassettes, and photos or negatives to digital format using the personal archiving lab (one at Central and one mobile lab that visits neighborhood libraries)?
• check out a Community Pass for up to one week’s use of a BCycle eBike?
• take a cooking class?
• borrow vinyl and a turntable?
• get outside with a birdwatching backpack stocked with all the supplies you need, or plant vegetable and flower seeds from a seed library?
These are just a handful of many free library offerings that were driven and shaped by community
interest. Others include:
• artist-led Memory Book workshops in which participants preserve important photos and other mementos to tell their personal stories
• free photography sessions that provide access to high-quality, professional photography for families
• Community English classes in partnership with Literacy Network for those who are learning English as a second language
• hands-on art workshops in conjunction with Bubbler artist residencies at all nine libraries
• Library Takeover, a program that empowers underrepresented communities to host their own events at the library with supplied funding for time, space, and resources (join us on April 15 for the next event, Kaypimi Kanchik | We Are Here: Honoring Indigenous Migration Stories and Celebrating the Kichwa Community in Wisconsin)
April is a big month in the library world, with Library Giving Day on April 4 and National Library Week from April 23–29. To mark the occasion, a dedicated group of donors is providing a $30,000 match for all gifts made to our annual fund in April. You’ve demonstrated your financial commitment to the library in the past, and we hope you’ll renew your support with an annual fund gift.
Madison Public Library Foundation invests in our libraries to provide accessible learning opportunities that cannot be funded with public dollars alone. Although the library still offers all the conventional tools you know and rely on — from books and databases to films and music — we’re proud to fund new, inventive programs and resources that foster connections and serve as an outlet for Madisonians’ creativity.
Thank you for considering a spring contribution to our annual fund, and remember: Every gift made through April 30 will be matched dollar for dollar, up to $30,000!
Sincerely,
Conor Moran
Executive Director
P.S. We’re so grateful to Lau & Bea Christensen, Jessica & Jim Yehle, Tom DeChant & Paul Gibler, and two anonymous donors for contributing to the $30,000 match.
Madison Public Library Foundation
201 W. Mifflin Street
Madison, WI 53703
608.266.6318
Tax ID: 39-1777242
