After witnessing another year full of Madison spirit – this one filled with tumultuous protests – bookstore A Room of One’s Own will be hosting its 36th Anniversary Celebration Sunday. In addition to a 10-percent discount on all purchases from Friday through Sunday at the downtown bookstore, the celebration will feature a showcase of four Madison women who have made a difference.

These include Sue Goldwomon, host of “Her Infinite Variety,” a program of women in music on WORT-FM for 26 years. There is also Arlene Zaucha, partner of Goldwomon and member of the “Her Turn” women’s news collective at WORT-FM, and Susan Friedman, a University of Wisconsin professor who was instrumental in creating the Women’s Studies department. The late Marian Thompson, who founded the Wisconsin Women’s Network and helped create Wisconsin’s Marital Property Law, is also being featured. Although these women may not be household names, they are important to know, especially in the Madison community.

“They continue to fight to get women acknowledged for their work, and to get the same acknowledgment that men get for their work,” co-manager Sandi Porkildson said.

Their pictures will eventually be on the store’s honor wall, created by Porkildson and a store volunteer two years ago. Currently, the photos of nine Madison women are prominently placed there. Among them are Ruth Blaier, a neurology professor who showed there are no biological differences between men’s and women’s brains, and Liz Karlin, an abortion provider who encouraged physicians to learn the procedure to protect the safety of women.

“We picked women who didn’t get a lot of public acknowledgement but did things that we felt were valuable,” Porkildson said. “We didn’t want them to be forgotten.”

Some of these women were influential in helping to create the store in 1975. Porkildson has been with the store for all 36 years of business, and helped the bookstore become a downtown fixture. A walk into the store will offer not only large collections of feminist, gay and lesbian literature (as well as works of history and fiction), but also sassy and political bumper stickers and buttons.

The celebration will be much like the atmosphere of the store on any given day: laid-back and comfortable. Behind the laid-back atmosphere of the store lies a passionate community that has built up support for the store throughout the years.

“Madison has had a strong feminist and gay/lesbian community, and I think that has helped make Madison the unique place that it is,” Porkildson said.

But over the last 36 years, the bookstore has undergone many changes, including changes in inventory and in reception in the Madison community.

“It’s less labeled now as just being a feminist bookstore. … There’s a more permanent community downtown now that’s grown in the past 10 years,” Porkildson said. “There’s more of a demand for a general bookstore now.”

It’s quite literally less-labeled as well – the word “feminist” has been removed from its well-known banner. (It now simply reads “Books and Gifts.”) She said the store will order anything a patron requests, and takes note of the community’s needs for different genres of books.

For example, upon considering that Madison has no official children’s bookstore, the store recently added a children’s section. And not just your average Disney fables – Porkildson mentioned a story about a transgendered child titled “My Little Princess Boy.” From a historical standpoint, Porkildson said that it’s important to recognize the women the celebration will honor, not only for their positive influences for the store, but also for their positive influences on women’s rights as a whole.

“It’s important to have that history, not to take it for granted,” she said. “It seems these rights could be threatened to be taken away at any point.”

And with refreshments of past years praised by Porkildson, the store will be sure to offer an afternoon of quality treats, goods and a worthwhile history lesson.

“Come to learn a little bit of history about the Madison community, and to get a good cupcake,” she said.

The celebration will take place Sunday at 2 p.m. at A Room of One’s Own, located at 307 W. Johnson St. Visit www.roomofonesown.com for more information.