Home > About > Library News
Appleton Public Library Receives Library of the Year Award
We are incredibly honored to be selected as the 2025 Library of the Year by the Wisconsin Library Association! This award honors both our staff, who have gone above and beyond to serve with creativity and care, and our community, whose trust and support make Appleton Public Library possible.
Help us celebrate the honor by stopping by the library Monday, February 16 anytime between 9 am and 7 pm. Share what you love about the library on a posterboard for all to see and take home a commemorative sticker or bookmark, while supplies last.
From Wisconsin Library Association
The Wisconsin Library Association is proud to honor the Appleton Public Library (APL) as the 2025 Library of the Year. Through visionary leadership, extraordinary community partnerships, and a steadfast commitment to inclusion, APL has transformed both its physical space and its role as a cornerstone of civic life.
In February 2025, after nearly two decades of planning and perseverance, Appleton Public Library opened its new $40 million facility, made possible through public funding and $12 million from more than 600 donors. The result is a light-filled and inclusive space, reflecting the community’s values and priorities.
APL’s achievement is even more remarkable given the two relocations during construction. Through these disruptions, staff delivered exceptional service with minimal interruption, relocating programs to parks, schools, nonprofits, coffee shops, and partner spaces. They built new audiences, launched initiatives like the City of Appleton Poet Laureate Program, and piloted pop-up coworking programs with local businesses.
Since reopening, the library’s impact has been profound. On opening day, more than 2,300 people celebrated the new space despite a snowstorm. In just five months, APL recorded 173,000 visits, 299,283 checkouts, 6,548 new cardholders, and over 5,000 bookings for study rooms, meeting spaces, and creation studios. Its design reflects deep community input and a commitment to accessibility, with a sensory room, gender-inclusive restrooms with adult changing tables, hearing loops, and welcoming spaces like the coworking hub and the unconference room.
As Mayor Jacob A. Woodford notes, APL’s ability to manage complex logistics while maintaining exceptional service “is a testament to their professionalism, resilience, creativity, and community focus.” Council President Katie Van Zeeland calls the library “a living, breathing expression of our community’s values” and praises its “radically inclusive space” that welcomes everyone—from entrepreneurs to caregivers, seniors, immigrants, and children with disabilities.
APL’s leadership extends beyond Appleton. As a key member of WiLS, SRLAAW, and the City Library Collective cohort, APL serves as a model of collaborative, future-focused public service for libraries statewide.
With its bold vision, resilient leadership, and unwavering commitment to equity and access, Appleton Public Library embodies the best of Wisconsin libraries.