The Madison Public Library received a national award from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for its contributions to the local community Tuesday.

The National Medal for Museum and Library Service is the highest award a library may achieve and highlights the library’s emphasis on community development, Greg Mickells, MPL director said. The award comes with $5,000, which will go toward raising awareness of the resources the library provides, he said.

After being passed over for the award in 2015, Mickells said MPL’s continued work with the community to address the specific issues that it faces set its library apart. He pointed to programs aimed at reducing disparities, like Parents as First Teachers, which aims to increase early childhood literacy.

Public libraries have always worked to better the communities they serve, Mickells said, but MPL has gone beyond that and made great efforts to provide greater access to those who need their services the most.

In the case of childhood literacy, he said MPL has worked with the public health department’s visiting nurses to visit parents’ homes who cannot make it to the library for the lessons.

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These nurses visit homes and provide information on literacy teaching techniques, Mickells said. Early childhood literacy parity helps close the achievement gap found between minority and white students, he said.

“A lot of brain development is going on when children are around 3 years old,” Mickells said. “This kind of engagement is where we go beyond traditional library services.”

This will be the 22nd year the institution, which works to promote innovation among museums and libraries, has been awarded the medal, IMLS spokesperson Aliza Bran said. She said IMLS gives the medal to five libraries across the county.

Members of a presidentially appointed advisory board for IMLS determine the award finalists.

The library institution will present the award to Mickells and a representative of the community in a ceremony in Washington D.C.