IMPACT Stories

Hawthorne resident brings textile art workshops to her community library.

The Bubbler is supporting our schools in innovative ways.

40 friends, families, and neighbors in 1 beautiful project.

5 young men in 16 weeks of Immersive Art Creation

Madison Public Library's Making & Learning Resources are ready to help teachers, parents, and folks in the community to bring making & learning to our kids in Madison and beyond.

Encouraging parents to step back and kids to take risks.

On August 22nd & 23rd, the Bubbler team kicked off it's second round the the Making Spaces project with seven new MMSD Schools.

The Bubbler Artist in residence program has been a work in progress since its inception five years ago. Our team has continued to learn as we adapt and respond to the diverse needs of our artists, aiming to provide them with the best resources, space, materials, and promotions to thrive during their 2 month stay at the Bubbler. This fall, we hosted our first in-person, hands-on orientation well before our new rotation of artist hit the ground running for their two months in the Bubbler. With seven upcoming and three previous residents it was a powerhouse of the Madison arts world all in one room.

With the generous support of the Madison Public Library Foundation, the Bubbler hosted Whoopensocker! - a Theatre LILA arts education program designed for elementary students - at the library this summer. Developed by Dr. Erica Halverson, UW-Madison School of Education, Whoopensocker! focuses on creativity, expression, writing and collaboration. It is a dynamic community building experience for the whole class using a combination of performing and creative arts exercises.

Thanks to partnerships between the library and local community organizations, young people in Madison are having more opportunities to connect with authors that are relevant to them.

Our youth services staff teamed up with Madison Dane County Public Health’s Nurse/Family staff to promote early literacy practices and provide baby books during home visits. Library staff trained the nurses and clinicians making the visits and provided the materials (books and other info), while Public Health staff incorporated literacy strategies into their clients’ check-ups.

Throughout these last few weeks, several rescues have happened due to the flooding waters. Here's one story that might not make the headlines - but makes those of us at Madison Public Library very proud.

Khurelbaatar and Erdentuya's first visit to Alicia Ashman Library was just over a year ago. The couple had recently moved to Madison from Mongolia and hoped to apply for asylum. They were first greeted by one librarian who, having lived in Mongolia as a Peace Corps volunteer, offered up a traditional Mongolian greeting. The couple was pleasantly surprised to hear someone speaking their language, and staff were able to work with them to get the appropriate forms they would need to file.

This summer, the Bubbler’s Making Justice program was lucky to participate as a host site for the Young African Leaders’ Initiative (YALI). Five young adults from five African nations, partnered with us to provide six weeks of programming for court-involved youth in Madison. We saw YALI as a chance to develop cultural competencies and dramatically expand the worldview of local teens. What we didn’t realize was the impact the program would also have on the YALI fellows, who were visiting the US for the first time.

For the past few years, the Youth Services team at MPL has been reimagining how we do summer reading, choosing to focus on creating lasting experiences, rather giving away one time prizes. With that goal in mind, one reward for reading this summer was participation in Rock the Library! Where kids and their families could create their very own music videos complete with props, costumes, and green screen technology.

Comics, puppets, and green screens oh my! Who says that teachers take their summers off? 2018 was a summer of educator learning as the Bubbler team supported professional development at educator conferences across the city of Madison.