Madison opened its first new library in nearly three decades as the Imagination Center at Reindahl Park fills a longtime gap in library services on the city’s Northeast Side.
The new library officially opened Sept. 25 with more than 100 community members attending its grand opening. Located at 1814 Parkside Drive, the Imagination Center is a first-of-its-kind concept for Madison, with the library situated within Reindahl Park.
The new facility marks the first time in 26 years that Madison has opened a new library branch, expanding access to library services, programming and community space on the city’s Northeast Side.
“We don’t build libraries for the city. The library staff may think that we build it for them; we certainly make them comfortable, but we build libraries for the community,” said Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway. “In addition to me putting funding into my executive budgets for this project, it required generations of City Council members to vote in favor of those budgets and to keep the projects in the budget and to keep the funding commitment going. So that strong commitment from the Madison City Council over many more than 20 alders.”
(Photo by Omar Waheed)
The idea of a new library on Madison’s East Side had been discussed by the mayor and multiple alders for years.
Mayor Rhodes-Conway recalled former Alder and later state Assembly member Samba Baldeh bringing her to community meetings in the area, where there was often no dedicated space to gather. The meetings were sometimes held in hotels, where Baldeh would say, “If we had a library.”
Efforts for a new library have spanned multiple Alders for the area, starting with Joe Clausius, who served in the district between 2007 and 2015. Baldeh took up the torch after; followed by Alder Sabrina Madison, as the area’s representative before district map changes, and now Alder Julia Matthews.
“We are eliminating a resource desert by filling a service and programming gap for Northeast Side Madisonians, and this is the first step in a longer journey to connecting our neighborhood to city agencies and nonprofits,” Mayor Rhodes-Conway said.
Filling the gap has been an almost two-year venture, but Alder Madison pressed on to make sure it opens in a relatively reasonable amount of time.
“When I met Lyle, he’s one of my constituents … Lyle told me something. It never left me. He didn’t want this to take another 50 years to get done,” Madison said. “Lyle was the person in my ear that said, ‘Do not let this be 50 years.’”
The new building cost more than $18 million and was funded through a combination of public and private support. The city provided $10 million in capital funding, while the project received a $4.5 million federal grant. The Madison Public Library Foundation raised $5 million and established an endowment to provide long-term support for the library.
The library is also conveniently located near East Washington Avenue, with access to a nearby bus rapid transit stop, making it more accessible to residents across the Northeast Side and beyond.
The Imagination Center takes advantage of its location within Reindahl Park, with easy access to the park’s splash pad, sprawling athletic fields and playground, which is planned to be redesigned with greater accessibility. The library also features a pavilion that can be rented for events throughout the year.
Inside, the building has a bright, welcoming atmosphere, with colorful features throughout the space. A large purple installation hangs above the back half of the main library area, which is primarily dedicated to children. The library also includes multiple computers, workspaces and classrooms for community use.
Educational programming that will be present at the Imagination Center includes the Literacy Network. The nonprofit organization based on South Park Street has heard from community members on the other sides of town that the distance is sometimes too great to take classes. It will now also have a space in the library to offer some of its programming and fill a gap in available services on that side of town.
Community members gave their impressions of the new library. Rob Franklin, a local hip-hop artist, co-president of Urban Community Arts Network and founder of Mad Lit, is excited for what it can offer the community.
“I love it, number one because of the location, but also the things inside of it. I mean, it’s a brand new library,” Franklin said. “I like the possibilities of it all.”
Franklin, who has worked with Madison Public Library for around a decade teaching classes, realized when speaking with others that many have never seen a new library branch open.
Jasmine Banks, fifth-generation Madisonian and birder, pointed out some potentially unrealized features of the new library. She pointed at little dots that cover the windows, which, to her expertise, are to make windows bird-collision-free.
Banks is a resident of the area who likes to bring her granddaughter over to the splash pad in Reindahl Park. But with a new library, her granddaughter and other children can enjoy the nearby amenities and then come on over to read a book.
“This is incredible, and the fact that it’s in a park makes it even more incredible because I think about the connection between nature and literacy. This is phenomenal, and I’m gonna keep saying it. This is phenomenal,” Banks said.
Past the birding features and bright new building, Banks is excited for how it can bring all of Madison together.
“The way I know that is because I keep saying to people, ‘Oh, do you live over here?’ And they’re like, ‘No, I live on the far East Side,’ or ‘I live on the near North Side,’” Banks said. “It’s just so beautiful. This is what this community needs right at this moment.”
