Madison library achieves circulation goal set for birthday

Madison Public Library has sponsored a lot of fun activities so far this year to commemorate its 100th anniversary.

But the library also accomplished a major goal it set to coincide with the centennial celebration.

On April 22, the library announced that it succeeded in its quest to circulate 100,000 items between the start of the year and April 26, when it holds a party for its 100th birthday.

“Thank you, amazing Madison community … We love how much you love your library,” the library stated in a Facebook post.

About five days earlier, it posted another Facebook item asking the community to help seal the deal.

“Circulating 100,000 items in 100 days – that was our big goal for our 100th birthday,” the post stated. “We’re so close. We are 4,000 checkouts away. Can you help?”

Community involvement has been a major part of the library’s 100th anniversary celebration, which kicked off Jan. 17. Different activities and displays are being featured every 10 days to highlight each decade during the library’s history.

Special events hosted by the library, located at 6111 Middle Ridge Road in Madison Township, have ranged from a “Roaring Twenties Speakeasy” to “Let’s Go to the Hop,” a 1950s-style sock hop. The library also held a “Family Fondue and Disco Dance” as a tribute to the 1970s and a Retro Gaming Night centered on games introduced in the 1990s.

In conjunction with the decade-themed programs and exhibits, the library issued 100th anniversary birthday passports to encourage participation by patrons.

“Complete various activities and attend special birthday events to earn stamps in your passport,” the library stated on its website. “Once you get to 10 stamps, you get a prize.”

Festivities culminate on April 26, when the entire community is invited to the library for its official birthday party, featuring cake and refreshments, from 6 to 8 p.m.

“We hope that a lot of our legislators and politicians and other community organizers and people will be here to help us with that,” Library Director Dee Culbertson said previously.

The Madison Public Library opened for the first time on April 26, 1919, in a building constructed with money donated by renowned industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. That building, located at 126 W. Main St. in Madison Village, now serves as that community’s Village Hall.

Eventually, the area’s growing population and a rising number of patrons prompted the need for a new and larger library building.

Land was secured on Middle Ridge Road, just west of the new Madison High School. Groundbreaking took place for a new 11,000-square-foot library in 1973, and the building was dedicated on June 23, 1974. The new library in Madison Township became known by a different name – MacKenzie Library.

Adam MacKenzie was a library board member and driving force behind successful fundraising efforts for the Madison Township library. The board decided to name the library as a tribute to Adam’s son, Donald, who was killed in a logging accident at age 23, Culbertson said.

The library took back its original name – Madison Public Library – after a 13,000-square-foot expansion of the building was completed in December 2000.