Libraries in Madison, WI: Madison Public Library, the suburbs and UW–Madison

Madison Public Library locations

Madison Public Library lists ten libraries plus a mobile service:

• Central Library, 201 W. Mifflin St., downtown
• Alicia Ashman Library, 733 N. High Point Rd.
• Goodman South Madison Library, 2222 S. Park St.
• Hawthorne Library, 2707 E. Washington Ave.
• Imagination Center Library, 1814 Parkside Dr.: a library combined with a park pavilion at Reindahl Park, which the city says opened to the public on September 25, 2026
• Lakeview Library, 2845 N. Sherman Ave.
• Meadowridge Library, 5726 Raymond Rd.
• Monroe Street Library, 1705 Monroe St.
• Pinney Library, 516 Cottage Grove Rd.
• Sequoya Library, 4340 Tokay Blvd.
• Dream Bus: a mobile library for Madison and Sun Prairie areas without library access, where you can apply for a card, check out and return items, and place or pick up holds.

Hours change, so check the library's locations page. Browse every library in our libraries directory.

What a card gets you

Madison Public Library says all of its cards give access to public computers, Wisconsin's Digital Library and its online resources. Physical checkouts go through LINKcat, the shared catalog of the South Central Library System (SCLS). The library says LINKcat combines 51 member libraries across seven counties (Adams, Columbia, Dane, Green, Portage, Sauk and Wood) and nearly 3 million items.

• Holds: in LINKcat, place a hold on a title and you can change the pickup library when you do, or edit it later under My Account.
• Cards from elsewhere: Madison says that if you already have a card from another SCLS library, you can use it at any Madison location, and you can return borrowed items to any participating library. If you live in an SCLS county and don't have a card from your local library, you can apply at any Madison library.
• Library of Things: beyond books, the library lends items such as birding backpacks, disc golf kits, video games and vinyl records, depending on the location. Adult cardholders can borrow BCycle passes, and the seed library needs no card. Availability varies by branch.

Digital collections

Wisconsin's Digital Library (the Libby and OverDrive apps) lends ebooks, audiobooks and magazines with a Wisconsin public library card. Borrowed titles expire on their own, so there are no late charges. Madison Public Library also lists:

• Comics Plus, Gale eBooks, and O'Reilly for Public Libraries, available in Madison libraries and remotely when Madison Public Library is your home library
• EBSCOhost eBooks, available remotely with a card from any SCLS member library
• Free resources that need no card, including Project Gutenberg, OpenStax and the Open Textbook Library

Resource lists change, so check the library's ebooks page. For classes and training built around these tools, see our adult learning guide.

Study rooms, meeting rooms and the Bubbler

Study rooms. Every Madison Public Library location except Monroe Street has study rooms. Advance booking is by phone through the library you want and requires a Madison card or a card from any SCLS library. Walk-ins are allowed when a room is free, with no card needed. You must be 12 or older to use a room on your own. Per the library's rules, neighborhood libraries allow up to 2 hours a day and Central allows up to 3.

Meeting rooms. The library says meeting rooms are free and must be used for educational, cultural, informational or civic activities that are free and open to the public. Groups complete a Meeting Room Usage Application. Central Library also has rental event spaces, including a conference room and a community room.

The Bubbler. The Bubbler is the library's arts and making program. It runs hands-on workshops, artist residencies, teen programs and maker kits in libraries, schools and elsewhere in the community, with its office at Central Library. Its own website was under maintenance when we checked, so look to the library's site or its social accounts for current programs. Hawthorne, Alicia Ashman and Goodman South also keep open-ended art spaces.

The suburban libraries

Around Madison, each community runs its own public library, and all of these appear in the South Central Library System's directory:

• Middleton Public Library
• Fitchburg Public Library, 5530 Lacy Rd.
• Sun Prairie Public Library, 1350 Linnerud Dr.
• Verona Public Library, 500 Silent St.
• Monona Public Library, 1000 Nichols Rd.
• Others in McFarland, Oregon, Stoughton, Waunakee, DeForest, Cross Plains and Mount Horeb

What each library says it offers varies. Sun Prairie lists a Library of Things, drive-up holds pickup and a home delivery service, and says it issues cards free to any Wisconsin resident and accepts cards from most libraries in the seven SCLS counties. Verona lists a Personal Archiving Lab and test proctoring, and Monona lists Kanopy video streaming and exam proctoring. Not every library states its policy for cards from other communities, so ask yours. Our guides to Middleton, Verona and Sun Prairie cover more of each town.

Some Dane County towns and villages have no library of their own. Dane County Library Service runs a Bookmobile that serves them, as in Cottage Grove.

UW–Madison libraries

UW–Madison's libraries are open to the public in limited ways. At Memorial Library, entry requires a UW–Madison ID, a UW System ID or a Community Borrowing Card. Without one, you can get a day pass at the Welcome Desk near the State Street entrance with an unexpired government photo ID. Day passes are limited to one per 7 days, and anyone under 18 must be with a parent or guardian.

The Community Borrowing Card lets you borrow from any UW–Madison campus library, with requests picked up at the campus library you choose. It doesn't include off-campus access to electronic resources or interlibrary loan. UW–Madison lists an annual-fee card for people 18 and older, and says some groups get complimentary privileges, including City of Madison, Dane County and State of Wisconsin employees, Madison College and Edgewood students and staff, and Wisconsin public school educators. See its card page for current fees and verification steps. For a campus walk, see visiting UW–Madison.