A Major Hurdle Cleared

Strong Support from Three Former Mayors!

The Wisconsin State Journal ran a guest column today co-signed by three former Madison mayors expressing their support for a new Downtown library:

"As three former Madison mayors, we have followed with great interest the various proposals for a new Madison Central Library.

We were very gratified to see funding for the Fiore/Irgens proposal for a new Central Library in Mayor Dave Cieslewicz's proposed capital budget, which the City Council will consider this fall.

We couldn't be more supportive..." [read more here]

Mayor Backs New Central Library

A Common Question

"From the comments on my Central Library story today, you might think so. In some ways, the idea makes sense on the surface -- if you can find information online, why go to a special building to do so? Looking at statistics from the Madison Public Library system, however, the short answer is 'no'..."
>>> Read more

Related links:
Have Libraries Been Made Obsolete by the Technology Revolution?

Excited to Move Forward

The folks at InBusiness invited us to participate in a web video to tie-in with their feature story about the Central Library project in their June 2009 issue. Requisite Video did a really nice job on the production. I think you can sense how excited we are to undertake this project! ... To see it, just click this image link to the IBTV video page:

NEWS FLASH: June 5, 2009

Last night, the Madison Public Library Board unanimously approved the selection of the Fiore-Irgens proposal for a new free-standing library. This was an important hurdle!

Our next step will be to engage in discussion with the Common Council about the costs and benefits of this project. We know that this mixed-use development - new free-standing library, new hotel with lobby at Mifflin/Fairchild, new structured parking for 400+ vehicles, new retail - will provide very significant economic benefits to the greater Madison area. Now we must begin to share this understanding with the community at large!

We are quite grateful for the recommendation by the Central Library Disposal Surplus Property Criteria and Selection Committee. This group spent six months deeply considering the options before the community. It also made great efforts to include public input.

A public hearing was held, including full presentations by Terrance Wall and the Fiore team, which was taped by Madison City Channel and is available online. We also participated in a Public Forum sponsored by Capitol Neighborhoods Inc.

We greatly appreciate the public service provided by the committee members!

Links of interest
Madison Library Board Backs Plan With Total Support,
Proposal for New Facility, Location OK'd.

We need to ask the right questions about library plan

This guest column by Derrick Van Mell appeared in the Wisconsin State Journal on January 1, 2009. (Click on image above for full article.)

I think that Van Mell has this right. At the end of the day, the most important step will be for our community to consider and re-affirm our commitment to the values historically expressed by our libraries - equal access to knowledge, life-long learning, and the importance of literacy. The Central Library is different and much more than a branch library. It is a symbolic expression of these democratic values.

Our team passionately believes that these symbols are important, and we will argue that Madison should take this opportunity to build a new central library of real substance and integrity.