On Sept. 25, Madison opened its first new public library in 26 years. And the Imagination Center at Reindahl Park looks pretty different from the nine other Madison Public Library branches that came before.
Filling the “library desert” on Madison’s far east side, city leaders say the Imagination Center reflects what libraries have become in cities – not just places to study and check out books but community meeting spaces, children’s activity zones, and more. Take a virtual tour of the Imagination Center and let your own imagination get fired up. [City of Madison, 🔒WSJ]
🌳 A Library in a Park?
As the name suggests, the Imagination Center at Reindahl Park is the first Madison public library built inside a public park. It’s Madison’s 10th public library, and cost $18 million to build, $5.5 million of that came from state grants and $4.5 million raised by the Madison Public Library Foundation.
The design of the library takes full advantage of the natural setting, with green floors and glass walls that blend in with the environment outside. The ceilings are high, allowing in lots of natural light to read by.
📗 Indoors/Outdoors
The Imagination Center is also the first Madison public library to have an outdoor park pavilion that takes up half of the 17,500 square feet of the facility.
The pavilion includes a large multipurpose gathering room with retractable walls that can divide the space in two. The space is envisioned to be a much-needed community hub, where residents can meet, host seminars, even have movie nights. The meeting rooms aren’t yet open, but residents can start reserving space in November for 2027 gatherings.
Nate Page’s “The Passage of Being” is like a 16-foot-tall mirror on one side. (Jade Iseri-Ramos / City Cast Madison)
One of the most striking outdoor features of the Imagination Center is a new piece of public artwork, “The Passage of Being,” designed by artist and Wisconsin native Nate Page, that was unveiled Friday.
When the two-sided, 16-foot-high sculpture is viewed from the library, it is covered in layers of colors drawn from the flags of prominent immigrant communities on Madison’s northeast side. But look at it from the outside, and it’s a giant reflective surface that captures what’s happening in the park. [City of Madison]
The children’s books area at the Imagination Center has tall windows for plenty of natural light to read by. (Jade Iseri-Ramos / City Cast Madison)
📚 Up and Running
Since it opened last week, the Imagination Center isn’t wasting any time serving the community. The very first multi-age storytime is scheduled for Sept. 29, there’s a stop motion animation workshop on Sept. 30, and a resource fair is scheduled for Oct. 1 for northeast side residents to learn about all the organizations serving their community. [Madison Public Library]
