Besides being April Fools’ Day, April 1 is the day when I start booking Central Library weddings for the following year — in this case, 2017. This first day of bookings was busy. The first request for a date was an email delivered at 12:01 a.m. The bulk of the rest of the bookings then arrived between 12:01 and 1:20 a.m. So when I arrived at the library, I had 10 weddings to book, as well as two bat mitzvahs. By the time I left Friday afternoon, I had booked three more weddings for a total of 13 for 2017 … and only after one day.

I find this fascinating, as we do not advertise in any of the local wedding magazines, nor do we have a booth at the wedding shows. The word is being spread via staff, Madison Public Library Foundation, social media, other city agencies and people who have had events at Central.

With that said, comments that I heard from couples who toured here in the last month focused on three things. First, they thought the building was beautiful. Second, they liked the idea of getting married in a library. For many of the couples, there are fond memories of times in libraries when young or when they were in school. For them, the library symbolizes learning, security, literacy. Finally, local couples told me how nice our staff was to them. There were comments about how our staff is so helpful, no matter what the situation or question.

I have said many times that you never know what kind of a difference you can make in a person’s day when you help them. For some of our couples, it can help make a lifetime decision.

Interested in booking the lovely Central Library for a wedding or special event in 2017? Contact Tom Karls at tkarls@madisonpubliclibrary.org or 608.266.6363.