User:Hansokat/Madison Public Library (Madison, WI)

Madison Public Library Madison Public Library (MPL) is a library system serving the residents of Madison, Wisconsin. Founded in 1875 as the Madison Free Library, the system today consists of the Central Library and eight branch libraries. MPL is a member of the 52 library consortium South Central Library System, and operates with SCLS's online catalog LINKCat.

Early Library History
The Madison Free Library grew out of an earlier subscription library, the Madison Institute. With the strong backing of Madison mayor Silas Pinney, the Madison City Council approved an ordinace establishing a Free Public Library and Reading Room in late 1874. The executive board of the Madison Institute voted to turn over its holdings to the new Free Library, and in May 1875, the library officially began operations in the Institute's former quarters in Madison's City Hall. A few years after its opening, the collection had grown to over 5,600 books, available to city residents over the age of 15. By 1900, the collection numbered over 17,000. In 1959, the Madison Free Library officially changed its name to the Madison Public Library.

Central Library
By the mid-1890s, the Free Library was beginning to outgrow its space in City Hall. Whether MFL board members originally approached Andrew Carnegie for a building grant, or the Carnegie organization made an unsolicited gift remains in question, but by 1895, the Carnegie people offered $40,000 to the city for a dedicated library building. The Wisconsin Free Library Commission, then housed in the Capitol building, lobbied to install space for a Library School in the new building (the Library School later became a part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison as the School of Library and Information Services). With these changes to the original plan, the board was able to win an additional $35,000 from the Carnegie pledge, leaving a total budget of $75,000 for the new building. A site was selected at the corner of Carroll and Dayton streets, and the architectual firm Frank Miles Day from Philadelphia was selected to design the structure. It opened to the public in February 1906.

The first dedicated library served Madison well for many years, but by the 1960s it was evident more space was desperately needed. In April 1961, Madison residents overwhelmingly approved a referendum to fun the construction of a new Central Library. After determining that the first choice site at West Washington and Henry Streets would be too expensive, the library board selected a site on West Mifflin, between Fairchild and Henry streets. The local architectual firm Weiler and Strang was chosen to design the new building. Groundbreaking on the new building began in late 1963, and the new Central was fully operational by June 1965. The new building included several pieces of public art. Artist Aaron Bohrod's animal mural in the children's room and Edward Berge's Wildflower sculpture, originally situated on the lawn before the original Central building, now graces the head of the library's staircase. Beloit, Wisconsin artist O. V. Shaffer's bronze work Hieroglyph greets visitors in the library's entry court. In 1990, the Madison City Council voted to name the building after former director Bernard Schwab (served 1957-1982), whose leadership resulted in the expansion of MPL's services throughout the city.

Branches
As of October 2010, MPL has eight branches throughout Madison. They are: Pinney, Hawthorne, Lakeview, Monroe Street, Sequoya, Meadowridge, Goodman South Madison and Alicia Ashman.

As early as 1903, efforts were made to expand library services beyond the downtown location. Early 'book stations' were located in stores around the city soon indicated a need for more regular branch service. The first dedicated branch library opened in 1913, at 1249 Williamson Street, thanks to another grant from the Carnegie Foundation. That building, designed by Madison architectual firm Claude and Starck, still stands next door to the Willy Street Cooperative. This branch, which officially became the Hawthorne branch in 1958, had locations on Atwood Avenue, and eventually on East Washington Street, its present site. Other east side branches include Pinney in the southeast and Lakeview, serving the northeast. West side service expanded with the addition of a branch at 2606 Monroe Street in 1944. The Monroe Street later moved into permanent quarters on the 1700 block of its eponymous street, where it operates to this day. As of 2010, west side branches are Goodman South Madison, Sequoya, Meadowridge and the newest and most westerly branch, Alicia Ashman.

The Library Today
In 2009, MPL had print and media holdings topping 1.1 million items, and had over 2 million people visit its nine locations. The library maintains a high standard of service, ranking seventh in the nation for the 250,000 population group, according to Hennen's 2010 library rankings. In 1993, the Madison Public Library Foundation was created in order to help bridge the financial gap between library funding and increasing costs. Capital campaigns by MPL and the Library Foundation have resulted in new building projects for the Sequoya branch in 2008 and the Goodman South Madison branch in 2010.

As of 2010, plans are underway to renovate the Central Library, its first major renovation since its construction. Increased pressures on the building's public spaces, mounting maintenence costs and a lack of space for an ever-growing collection have pushed the current structure to its max. The Minneapolis-based firm Meyer, Scherer and Rockcastle Ltd. have been selected for the redesign.