Madison Public Library: Central Branch Sneak Preview!

On Monday, September 9th librarians from Wisconsin's Water Library joined other members of University of Wisconsin-Madison's librarian community, for a special tour of the newly refurbished Central branch of Madison Public Library (MPL).

Although the new library has a sleek, modern design, patrons will still feel at home relaxing with a book or a newspaper (in print or electronic format).

Swarms of UW librarians descend on the Central branch of MPL. 

The tour started in the former basement of the old Central building. This basement has come to life as the new children's area. Some of the features of the children's area include wall prints done by local artist Derrick Buish, scaled-down modern furniture, and colorful flooring.

Edward Berge's Wildflower is ready to delight future patrons.

Librarian Anne Moser test drove a rocking chair in the children's area--she gave it two thumbs up.

The first and second floors of the new branch of the library feature more open space and 325 available seats--a 148% increase over the seating available in the old building.

Part of the new teen area. This space offers an open design with added privacy.

These floors also boast lovely wall prints done by Sofia Arnold, a cafe from Chocolaterian, and an area just for young adult patrons.

The third floor of the Central Library features an art gallery and community room. The art gallery is currently featuring an exhibit called 'Q & A' which invites onlookers to investigate and speculate about question and answer themes found in each piece of artwork.

Adjacent to the gallery space is a beautiful patio area that overlooks Madison. Featured on the patio is a statue titled Heiroglyph by the artist V. Shaffer. Tables and chairs make the patio an ideal area for reading, relaxing, and sipping coffee.

The partially-green roof will collect storm water and contribute to cooling and insulating the building.

From the children's area to the partial green roof-- the refurbished Central branch of MPL is the perfect marriage of modern, industrial, design and comfortable library ambiance.

Wisconsin's Water Library is looking forward to enjoying all the fun of the Central branch's Stacked event on September 19th and its grand opening on September 21st.