Week Calendar

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

Toddlers and their caregivers can enjoy introductory stories, songs, music, and movement! For ages 18 months to 36 months.

¡Ven a la biblioteca Central a practicar tu inglés conversacional! Tendremos actividades para empezar y seguir la conversación y actividades para niños acompañantes. Hablantes de todos niveles estan invitados a venir.

Join Miss Jennifer for Preschool Storytime on Monday mornings at 10:15 a.m.  There will be stories, rhymes, music, and more.

This storytime is recommended for ages three to five, but all children are welcome to attend.

Join us 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.

Celebrate spring with the Greater Des Moines Botanical Gardens!  We will read stories about plants and growing and enjoy hands on plant based activities!  Best for ages 3+ but all ages are welcome to join.  

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.

AARP will be at the library every Wednesday and Saturday from February through April 12 to assist the public with their taxes. 

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.

Join us at Forest Avenue Library for a day of play.

Drop by our children's area to build with LEGOs. Show a staff member your creation for a sticker!

AARP will be at the library every Wednesday and Saturday from February through April 12 to assist the public with their taxes. 

It's Slime Time! Come to the slime party to make stretchy slime, fluffy slime, and sparkly slime. We'll play with our slime and even have a slime contest!

It's spring break, and you have nowhere to go, so drop into the Franklin Avenue Library children's area for this interactive adventure only you can choose. Ages 3+.

Join us for a unicorn themed Family Storytime! Kids can listen to unicorn stories like Itty-Bitty-Kitty-Corn by Shannon Hale. Afterwards, kids and caregivers can make their own unicorn slime to take home.

Did you know that Emu's can't walk backwards and Polar Bears don't have white fur?  Don't believe us?

The selection for March is The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar.

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.

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.

Make your own slime to take home at North Side!

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.

Listen to stories about the weather then make puffy paint rainbows and watch a demonstration of shaving-cream rain clouds!

Geared for ages 4-11. Registration is required. 

Learn all about how library books get from place to place with Doug, the library’s delivery driver! We will start in our meeting room to hear about how Doug uses the delivery van for his job.

This program teaches participants how to decode behavioral messages, identify common behavior triggers, and learn strategies to help intervene with some of the most common behavioral challenges of Alzheimer's disease.

Love frogs, toads, and other cool amphibians? Then join South Side Library and our friends at Polk County Conservation to learn about these smooth, wet animals that seem to magically transform from egg to adult.

Join us for our monthly South Side Book Discussion!

Our March book is The Sentence by Louise Erdrich.

Get creative on canvas with watercolors and tempura paints! All supplies provided. 

Children should wear clothing that may get stained. Registration is required.

Visit North Side and read to a furry friend from the Animal Rescue League of Iowa's Therapets program!

Join us at Forest Avenue Library to decorate our own mini Pokémon planters and plant garden cress, a fast growing microgreen.  Will you choose Togepi or Oddish to be your new windowsill buddy? As Supplies last. Best for Ages 6+

Join us for a Nintendo Switch Party over spring break! We will have games like Mario Kart 8 & Super Mario Bros. Ultimate. Feel free to bring your own Switch or share the library’s controllers.

Children will listen to a story and then create a masterpiece while exploring with art and STEM activities. Ages 3 to 8 years old, but younger and older siblings are welcome.

Tweens and teens ages 10-18 can join us after school to enjoy video games on our Nintendo Switch!

What's better than games? Giant games! Come play some fun giant games at South Side Library, including Giant Jenga, Giant Tic Tac Toe, and more! Ages 6-18

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

Create your own marbled paper designs and use them to make the cover of a notebook.

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 Australian boomerangs. 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+. 

Join us for a special edition of Creative Readers with the library’s mascot, Rosie the Reading Monster! Children and their caregivers can join us for stories, songs, and crafts with Rosie.

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

Are you interested in drawing your favorite manga characters or creating your own? We will use Procreate on iPads to design professional looking manga. For ages 12 and up. 

Join Library Assistant Ben Hatcher for a papercraft program inspired by our famous East Side window displays! We'll be folding and gluing pre-cut art paper to assemble exciting objects. All materials are included in this Take & Make.

Join us for our evening Family Storytime at 6:30 p.m.! Kids and caregivers can join us for fun songs, stories and crafts. You can even wear your jammies!  All Ages Welcome!

This month's book is Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce.

Come learn about baking pies, running your own business, and maybe even get a new recipe! Registration is limited to 48, but all attendees will get to try one of their delicious hand pies.

Mark Rouw, Iowa's Big Tree Field Representative, is talking about how he tracks down the biggest trees in Iowa! Come see photos and hear stories only a big tree hunter can tell!

This month, Forest Avenue Library is hosting an exhibition of teen-made memes about privacy.

Have you ever played a game so big that you were the pieces?  Drop-by the library to listen to a story and play our Giant Candyland and Giant Snakes and Ladders to win a candy prize.  Best for Ages 6+  

The whole family can join us for this special event featuring Kelly Crull, the author of "Washed Ashore: Making Art from Ocean Plastic."  He will share information about all of the plastic that ends up in the ocean, and how it can be turned i

Get creative on canvas with watercolors and tempura paints! All supplies provided. 

Children should wear clothing that may get stained. Registration is required.

Senior Medicare Patrol, or SMPs, help Medicare beneficiaries prevent, detect and report Medicare fraud, errors, and abuse.