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.

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 South Side Library and Skate South for a special Roller Rink Storytime at the Skate South Roller Rink! 

Families can come to the roller rink starting at 10 a.m. to get their wheels and start skating! Strollers welcome!

Join Jester Puppets at the Library for “Fairy Tales (Unhinged)”.  They will brings you the classics, but these are not your Mother Goose’s stories. Get ready for enormous fun, hilarity and downright silliness to kids’ favorite fables.

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.

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.!

Join us on the lawn for stories, songs and early literacy activities! Bring your own chair or blanket for seating and your energy for fun!  This event is geared for ages 3-6 but older and younger siblings are welcome.

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.

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.

Come to the library and enjoy an inclusive Father's Day themed story, snack and craft. Open to all families and their caregivers. 

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

It's time to kick off the DMPL summer reading program and the Varsity Cinema kids' movie series! Join us at the Varsity Cinema to sign up for the summer reading program, receive a free book, and watch a movie based on a children's book! 

Join us and special guest Rosie the Reader for silly stories, fingerplays, and fun songs! Family Storytime is aimed at children ages 18 months-6 years old, but all ages are welcome to join in.   

Join Rosario Manzano as she does a presentation on Medicare. After the presentation, she will host a game of BINGO! 

Kids and caregivers! Come to the South Side Library's parking lot to see and touch a street sweeper truck!

Join the Des Moines Public Library at Juneteenth's Neighbor's Day for children's activities!
Meet local authors, write and illustrate your own mini-book, enjoy a storywalk, and build with STEM materials!

It's time to kick off the DMPL summer reading program and the Varsity Cinema kids' movie series! Join us at the Varsity Cinema to sign up for the summer reading program, receive a free book, and watch a movie based on a children's book! 

The selection for June is True Biz by Sara Novic.

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.

Join us to make felt patches you can put on your jacket, bag, friend's bag, or hat. We'll bring some instructions for different stitches, but you can go as simple or as complicated as you like.

Celebrating Flag Day and what flag represents YOU! 

Stop in the library to make your own beaded safety pin flag. We will have beads and safety pins to create a  mini flags that represent you and what you are proud of! 

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's soprano ukuleles for the class.

Stop in the Children's area to learn about butterfly wings and the science behind how they move.

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's soprano ukuleles for the class.

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's soprano ukuleles for the class.

Adult Read Aloud storytime.

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.

In the early stage of Alzheimer's disease, families face new questions as they adjust. the first program of a three-part series provides practical answers to the questions that arise in the early stage.

Join us for our monthly South Side Book Discussion!

Our June book is Last Summer at the Golden Hotel by Elyssa Friedland.

Since opera began, it has told stories of magic, myth, and the world beyond.

Bring the whole family for several games of BINGO where your cards will be filled with plants and animals native to Iowa.  Prizes will be awarded to the winners.

The Franklin Library is located on DART Route #5.

Learn about butterflies and plants with Environmental Educator Joel Van Roekel, from the Des Moines Parks and Recreation Department. Participants get to plant flowers in a flowerpot they can decorate.

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

Are you ready to learn about (and EAT) some wonderful food?  Join our special guest from ISU Extension and Outreach as they share information about healthy snacks.

Please pre-register for this program.

Join us for the Teen Anime/Manga Meetup! We’ll get together and discuss all things Anime and Manga!

This week - teens can draw and make their own customizable stickers to take home!  Ages 12-18. 

Teens, display your pride this month! We will use cardboard looms to weave colorful Pride flags. Then we will create our own buttons and perler bead designs, all wearable for Pride Month! Ages 12+. 

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 as we celebrate the opening reception for Jacque Fabritz's exhibit, Connections. These abstract paintings will depict the connections between the man-made and natural world. Hand-painted cards will be available to buy.

Join South Side Library and AmeriCorps Seniors for an evening of fun and laughter while creating gorgeous faux stained art pieces!  

Need a new tote bag for all of those library books you just checked out!

Teens, come to the Forest Avenue Library the second Monday of every month and check out our tech center. We will have iPads with Procreate, a green screen, 3-D pens, and more! Ages 12+. 

Join artist and library staff member Fueche Vang as he introduces participants to drawing from a live clothed model. Draw along with light instruction through various timed poses.

Join Jester Puppets at the Library for “Fairy Tales (Unhinged). They'll bring you the classics, but these are not your Mother Goose’s stories! Get ready for enormous fun, hilarity, and downright silliness with kids’ favorite fables!

Do you ever wonder why we need bees? Bethany Kelly, the Central Iowa Bee Queen, will teach us all about these incredible insects and we'll even have a honey taste test!

Have you ever wanted to slay a dragon, raid a dungeon treasure room, or even save a village from an evil bandit horde? Always wanted to play Dungeons & Dragons, but didn’t know where to start?

This month's book is Taste Makers by Mayukh Sen.

Join Grand View physics professor, Grant Knotts, for a discussion on Renewable Energy! This is an exploration of how we get our electricity and how the production of energy is likely to change in the next few decades.

Join us to make felt patches you can put on your jacket, bag, friend's bag, or hat. We'll bring some instructions for different stitches, but you can go as simple or as complicated as you like.

Come to Forest Avenue Library to make your own water bead slime to take home! Listen to an oceanic story and personalize your own creation!

Virginia-based writer Taylor Harris’s 2022 debut memoir, This Boy We Made, received critical acclaim.