Week Calendar

Join us weekly for rhymes, songs, bounces, stories, and a little playtime. For caregivers and babies ages 0 - 18 months.

Children ages 0-5 and their caregivers can engage in open play, come and go activities at South. 

Babies and their caregivers can join Miss Jennifer on Tuesdays for rhymes, songs, bounces, and a story followed by a short playtime.

Babies, toddlers, and their caregivers can join us on Tuesdays for rhymes, songs, lap bounces, and a story.

This program is recommended for children from birth to 24 months of age.

Listen to silly stories, meet adorable puppet friends and move to fun songs!  Join us at Forest Avenue Library for Family Storytime at 10:00 A.M.!

Staff from the Evelyn K Davis Center for Working Families are ready to provide one-on-one job search and resume assistance to job seekers.

Staff from the Evelyn K Davis Center for Working Families are ready to provide one-on-one job search and resume assistance to job seekers.

Join Miss Donna for this fun filled story time! Together we will enjoy stories, songs, and more, all selected to engage your active toddler. Ages 18 months to 3 years old.

Children ages 3 to 5 and their caregivers can join us Thursdays at 10:00 a.m. for a 30-minute storytime with stories, musical activities and take-home activities that prepare your child for school.

Learn how to use the Glowforge Plus Laser Engraver at Tech Central! This program takes the place of the 1 on 1 Glowforge tutorial, so you will be fully qualified to book and use the Glowforge on your own after this program.

Join us at the Central Library for a fun storytime featuring movement, music, and rhyming! The storytime will take place in the meeting room to allow for social distancing.

Preschoolers and their caregivers can enjoy stories, rhymes, music, and learn school readiness skills. Afterwards, we will enjoy free-play together.

Calling all makers! Can you complete our weekly challenge to build, play, or create?  Each week we will have a different activity set up in the children's area and finishers can claim a prize.

Visit the children's area to sew your own paper mitten. Color animals from Jan Brett's The Mitten and put them in your sewn creation to retell the story at home! 

Please join the Friends of the Franklin Avenue Library for our quarterly member's meeting.

 Friends of the North Side Library Meeting.  New members always welcome.

Draw big and watch your creation shrink before your eyes! Trace or make your own design onto special sheets which staff will place in a toaster over to shrink in a matter of seconds.

Drop-in to East Side Library's Children's Area to create a work of art using perler beads between 1 PM - 7:30 PM. Staff will iron your creation for you to take home!

The Des Moines Public Library is partnering with area organizations to connect people with community resources. Community advocates will provide information about community resources like meal sites and shelters.

Prepare for adventure! Open Slay Dungeons & Dragons is for teens and tweens who know how to play D&D and are ready to take on a campaign!

All gaming supplies and characters will be provided by The Rook Room.

This month we will be reading and discussing The Downstairs Girl by Stacy Lee. Copies of the book are available at the North Side Library.

Join us for our monthly South Side Book Discussion!

Our January book is Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce.

Join us for a special bilingual storytime celebrating the Lunar New Year at Forest Avenue Library on Saturday, January 21 from 2 – 3 P.M! We listen to stories, sing songs, play games, make crafts, and watch the lion dance! 

Want to read, write, and speak better? Meet at the North Side Library on Thursdays at 3:30 PM for free help with English. We will practice together.

Are you interested in exploring classical music and instruments? Join us to have a snack, play games, make an instrument, and listen to some music!

Join us for our annual celebration in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Our keynote speaker is community leader Jacquie Easley McGhee, the division director for health equity, diversity, and inclusion for MercyOne.

A special guest from Polk County Conservation will join us for Creative Readers, teach us how to identify common winter birds in our area, and make a pine cone birdfeeder to take home.

Level up your gaming skills! Use our tablets and Nintendo Switch to play Among Us, Minecraft, Roblox, and more. Ages 8+.

Do you love animals? Then visit Central Library to practice reading with and learn about an ARL TheraPet! Engaging with animals is a great way to boost confidence and reduce anxiety around learning to read!

Create a luminous insect drawing on metalic paper with jeweled accents.

Art in the Library is for children ages 6-12 and requires preregistration.  

Aprenda a usar la computadora, navegar la red, y usar varios servicios y programas digitales. Para gente edades 18+. No necesita apartar lugar.

Teens! Do you need volunteer hours? Students ages 12-18 may volunteer at the South Side Library for 1 hour performing various tasks during our South VolunTeens program! This is a great way to earn volunteer hours!

Join us every month at the Forest Avenue Library as we learn about art from around the world and complete a craft related to what we've learned. This month's activity is Paper Dragons. Ages 10+. 

Join the Friends of the Forest Avenue Library for the monthly meeting at Forest Avenue Library!

Are you a graphic novel fan? Join us for our EPIC Graphic Novel BOOK CLUB for ages 7-11.

All your friends will want you spinning at their parties! At this hands-on class we will learn the skills needed to become a DJ. We provide the equipment, you bring the creativity. Ages 12+. 

Interested in learning about the history of our great City? Or learning about your little corner of it? DMPL is offering free monthly presentations on Des Moines’ fascinating past.

Winter sowing is a fun and easy way to start seeds outdoors in the snow and freezing cold.

Dungeons & Dragons is a role-playing game set in worlds of swords and sorcery where players use their imaginations to create characters and tell a story together.  This adventuring group meets on the third Thursday of each month from 5:30

Get started on the ukulele and quickly learn to play familiar tunes while having fun! Play your own ukulele or borrow one of North Side Library's soprano ukuleles with your library card.

This month's book is Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

Join our Book Chat Librarians to talk about our favorite books of 2022!

Join us at Central Library for the YA for Adults Book Club. This month we will be discussing The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters.

Learn to make the classic snack, puppy chow, and enjoy a story while you munch!  best for ages 6+ as supplies last!

The whole family can visit the library and take on our Family STEM Challenge.  Your mission is to design and build a shock-absorbing lander to protect two aliens who are trying to land on Earth using only the supplies provided.