Madison Metropolitan School District’s (MMSD) Mad for Reading initiative is now in its second year, boasting over 3,300 students logging over 10,000 books and more than 808,000 minutes read last year.
The initiative launched last year with the goal of building a lifelong love of reading and strengthening habits. Mad for Reading launched an application for students to use in late 2025 to track their minutes, access curated book lists, challenges, a social media-type platform and more. Its goal for this school year is to reach 2.6 million minutes, with about 100 minutes read per student.
“Last year has shown what’s possible when a community comes together around literacy,” said Dr. Joe Gothard, superintendent of MMSD. “Mad for Reading is helping students discover the joy of reading while building critical skills that support their success in school and beyond.”
Stats around MMSD to date show a strong effort from elementary schools.
Schenk Elementary School leads with over 140,000 minutes read logged, but John F. Kennedy has the highest participation rate with nearly 90% of students actively recording their reading. Henry David Thoreau and Lapham Elementary Schools trail close behind.
At MMSD middle schools, Ezekiel Gillespsie leads with over 54,000 minutes logged and around 58% student participation. Georgia O’Keeffe and Black Hawk follow closely.
East High School has the highest number of minutes logged out of all high schools in the district, with over 16,000 minutes logged.
Mad for Reading has also continued to grow through community partnerships. It has partnerships with the Madison Public Library, Wisconsin Book Festival, Madison Reading Project, UW Badgers, Forward Madison, and Athletes Unlimited to bring more access to literacy for students and families.
“Seeing reading celebrated across schools and the broader community helps strengthen students’ confidence and motivation as readers,” said Maegan Heindel, MMSD’s library services coordinator. “Our libraries, classrooms and community partners are all working together to help students discover books that spark their curiosity.”
Events district-wide have also been an effort to engage students. Events include the annual Book Bowl, Copa de Libros, Read Your Heart Out — which is now in its 22nd year at MMSD — and family literacy night.
