I felt incredibly privileged to attend Bookless, an excellent and extremely well-done event at the Madison Central Public Library. According to a few of my peers in my program who grew up here, the Central Library is one many people know, but it really needs an uplift. And that’s exactly what it is getting! I highly encourage you to continue to donate to the new library here.
Three students in the UW Madison program created this wonderful project centered around art inspired within libraries called Library as Incubator, and it has thrived since originally launched. It’s really quite imaginative and inspiring on its own. Because Bookless was so focused on art within the library, I actually thought the idea came from this project. However, according to their blog, the idea came from the Gallery Coordinator Trent Miller of the library as a fundraiser. And as far as I can tell, not only was the fundraiser a smashing success, the marketing of libraries was one too!
The first great idea that I loved from this event: it wasn’t targeted to only children & families or adults (and hipsters, haha). From 10am to 2pm, families were highly encouraged to come check out the fun. I didn’t attend then but I heard from classmates who volunteered that it was extremely fun to see the kids so excited to paint on walls and do other fun art projects! Then Bookless opened again at 7pm with a bar for us adults. Lots of people were still drawing on the walls. There was a section devoted to stamps and old stickers (I put one of my face, Rainbow Brite style). There was a fantastic photo booth. Downstairs in the basement, music boomed and a trippy video played to it. Ghostlike, creepy figures hung from the walls. Art installations hugged the walls and were placed between the frames of the old stacks. The lockers of the “Lower Staxx!” workers were on display. The pneumatic tubes were used by the Oracle. Upstairs, the old fiction room was used as a stage for various bands through the night. And, of course, more art was on display!
Everyone I saw seemed to be having fun. Unfortunately for me, it was a little too hot and smokey, so I went home feeling a little faint and overheated. Water and sleep helped me immensely. Other than that, and sometimes too-low lighting, there is nothing bad I can say about the Bookless event. Huge, huge kudos to the Madison Public Library!
