Have you heard about subscription services like OwlCrate or Litjoy?

For a monthly fee, these services send you a package containing one book and a few treats to go along with it. We are offering a similar service just for tweens ages 9 to 11! Best of all, our service is completely FREE!

Here’s how it works:

If you would like to get one of these boxes, you must sign up online before the 25th of the month. Boxes will be available around the 1st of the next month. Each box will contain one surprise book (selected especially for you based on your input) and a few fun surprises.

We will notify you when your box is ready. Boxes can be picked up at the Madison Library District’s Circulation Desk and checked out with your library card. You will have until the 15th of that month to pick up your book box. If you do not pick your box up, you will forfeit your place in the subscription list and must reapply.

When you’re done with your book, please return it to the Library. It will be due back at the Library three weeks after you check it out. The rest of the box’s contents are yours to keep!

Registration is limited to 18 participants each month, but a waiting list will be kept for those interested in joining the program when room allows. Your registration will be valid for 3 months and then must be resubmitted in order to give those on the waiting list an opportunity to use the service.

If you have some time tell us what you thought about your book and the items in your box!

Our STEAM Take n’ Go Activities kits of supplies for ages 6-11 will be available for pickup at the Circulation Desk beginning on the day of the craft.

• JANUARY 3: Self-Propelled Rubber Band Car
• JANUARY 18: Halley’s Comet Catcher

They will be handed out as long as supplies last, so don’t miss them!

Head over to our Kids and Tweens STEAM Activity page for all the video instructions. They’ll be posted the day the craft is scheduled.

Come enjoy discussions of amazing tween novels, create a craft, and have a treat! All while enjoying the friendship of other girls and their moms. Book club reading copies will be available for checkout from the circulation desk about a month prior to the meeting. There is a limit of one copy per household.

For January:

Come enjoy discussions of amazing tween novels, create a craft, and have a treat! All while enjoying the friendship of other boys and their accompanying adults. Book club reading copies will be available for checkout from the circulation desk about a month prior to the meeting. There is a limit of one copy per household.

For January:

Learn the art of Chess and other games with the master of fun and strategy, Nick Allison!

Games and supplies will be provided.

Madison Library’s Brand New Reading Challenge

All ages can play. We have a bingo card for kids 11 and under, and one for teens and adults 12 and older. Read fun new books and audiobooks and win great prizes!

Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Read the challenges and pick a bingo line that most appeals to you.

Step 2: Read a book that completes a challenge. Read another. And another.

Step 3: When you are able to cross off 5 squares in a row on the board, bring your sheet in to the Circulation Desk for a prize and an entry in our monthly drawing. We will have a separate drawing for each age group.

Step 4: Keep reading! You can get as many prizes and entries as there are bingos on the board.

Most Items Located on the West Side of the Building Against the South Wall

We have a wide variety of materials for all your learning and entertainment needs!
Having a hard time finding something? Ask a librarian!

We provide the following materials:

• FICTION – arranged alphabetically by the author’s last name on the south wall.
• NONFICTION – true stories and facts
• AUDIOBOOKS – books on CD
• eBOOKS and eAUDIOS – downloadable from the Libby app on your device.
• MAGAZINES
• MUSIC CDs – appropriate for children.
• DVDs & BLU-RAYs – these are located in the front lobby. Children’s materials are on the east side of the displays.
• GRAPHIC NOVELS and COMICS
• KITS – we have several types of kits:
  • DISCOVERY KITS – in the green bags; DKIT IVs are for the tween age, and DKIT Vs have materials for the whole family.
  • AMERICAN GIRL KITS – in the blue plaid bags.  This growing collection will feature all the historical dolls, as well as the Wellie Wishers and Bitty Babies.
  • SPEEDY READER KITS – the entire book series in one bag; in pale blue and grey bags.
  • READ-ALONG KITS – includes a book and an audiobook of the same title so you can follow along with the audio reader.
  • AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE KITS – designed to teach parents and other caregivers how to read to their children who are deaf using American Sign Language and how to use strategies to make book sharing most effective.

We’re starting a new literacy challenge: Books for Balloons.  Help us fill the library with balloons! Here’s how to play:
1) Pick up a form at the Front Circulation desk OR at our Birthday Party Kick-off Celebration on January 10th.
2) Choose to READ ‘n Track either 100 books or “10” 100 pages (that’s 1,000 pages).
3) START READING!! Don’t forget to keep track of your books/pages.
4) When you’ve reached 100 books or 1,000 pages, bring your completed Read ‘n Track form to the Front Circulation Desk to be entered into the drawings for FANTABULOUS prizes! You’ll also get to write your name on a balloon for our wall!

Tips… all Read ‘n Track forms must be turned in by November 30th. Books may be read more than one time. Audio books are also eligible. Look for your balloon on the wall in the Children’s section. This reading adventure is for the youth, ages 0 to 18.

Library Appreciation Week is on its way, and we’ve got some great things planned.

Peeps Diorama Contest!

Submit a book-themed potato and Peeps diorama by 5 p.m. April 2 to be considered for a prize.

There are five window displays around the building, each numbered 1 through 5. Within each window are hidden a number of objects for you to look for. Within every window are a number of bears, cats, and books that you will need to keep track of as you make your round. In addition to these each window has different objects for you to look for, so select what window you are at to get started.

Remember to count carefully. If you enter the right number of each item (Bears, Cats, and Books*), you will be entered for a chance to win a fun Christmas prize.

*Be carful not to count books in the background. Only count books that are clearly part of the display.