Week Calendar

Beyond Birth: Baby's First Year is a free weekly postpartum support group for parents and their new babies.

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.

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

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.

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.

AARP will be at the library every *Wednesday and Saturday from February 3rd through April 13th to assist the public with their taxes. On Wednesday, 02/07 and 02/14, appointments are limited to 11:30-3:30.

Storybook Doulas are diverse Polk County Doulas and Perinatal Health Advocates celebrating Black Maternal Health Week 2024 by reading to families with young children in the community.

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 our friends from the Iowa Department for the Blind. We'll learn about braille, listen to a story, and enjoy songs and music!

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.

The whole family can visit the library and take on our Family STEM Challenge.  This month we will have supplies available to create pom pom launchers.  Materials will be available between 10:00 AM and 12:00 PM.

AARP will be at the library every *Wednesday and Saturday from February 3rd through April 13th to assist the public with their taxes. On Wednesday, 02/07 and 02/14, appointments are limited to 11:30-3:30.

Stop in the library to do some fun arts and crafts with our Art Cart! 

Tippi Toes is coming back to the library!

Our exciting, high energy dance classes are the perfect opportunity for kids to try something new while having a blast and burning some energy! Any child between the ages 2-10 can participate.

Learn the basics of crochet by making a flat circle that you can use as a coaster. Each participant will receive yarn and a crochet hook to take with them.

Dungeons & Dragons is a role-playing game set in worlds of swords and sorcery where players use their imaginations to tell a story and create an adventure together.  We usually get together on the first Sunday of each month to play. 

April's selection is Calling for a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah.

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 for a TRIPLE FEATURE of Kung Fu Panda, Kung Fu Panda 2, and Kung Fu Panda 3!

This program will include a brief overview of where Mindfulness Meditation comes from and why we do it, followed by a 20 minute sitting practice with time for Q&A afterwards. Chair seating will be available.

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.

Sophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father twenty years earlier. Memories real and imagined fill the gaps between as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn't.

Learn about research in the areas of diet and nutrition, exercise, cognitive activity, and social engagement while using hands-on tools to help incorporate these recommendations into a plan for healthy aging.

Drop-in to North Side every Wednesday to enjoy a craft or STEM activity!

This week, we will make caterpillars out of pom-poms!

Join Paul Witmer as he teaches you how to create a mandala. You do not have to have "artistic" ability to enjoy this program.

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. 

We are no longer accepting teen volunteer applications for the 2023-2024 school year.

What do you do with an idea?

Tweens and teens ages 10-18 can join us after school on Tuesdays to enjoy activities in our meeting room.

This week, play Nintendo Switch Games on our big screen!

Join us for Pokémon BINGO!  Can you catch them all in a row to win a prize?  

Whether you are an expert level trainer or a Pokémon novice, this game will be fun for the whole family.

Join us at Central Library for Game On! Tweens and Teens (10-18) are welcome to enjoy snacks and play games with friends! We'll alternate between board games, card games, and games on the Nintendo Switch.

A special guest from the Blank Park Zoo will visit the library and bring several of their animal friends!  Learn about what animals need to do to survive in their natural ranges and how their adaptations help them along the way.

If you're between the ages of 12-18 and looking for a fun and rewarding volunteer opportunity, give the library a try! We would love to have your help!

Calling all Janeites and escape room enthusiasts alike! Lydia Bennett has run away with the cowardly Mr. Wickham. Mr. Darcy humbly requests your help in finding them and saving the Bennetts' reputation from ruin.

April is National Poetry Month, and what better way to celebrate than with Book Spine Poetry?

Calling all Janeites and escape room enthusiasts alike! Lydia Bennet has run away with the cowardly Mr. Wickham. Mr. Darcy humbly requests your help in finding them and saving the Bennets' reputation from ruin.

Connect with others interested in environmentally friendly gardens. The focus is on native plants which foster and nourish wildlife.

During this special Family Storytime, we'll read the book What do you do with an idea? by Kobi Yamada, and families can enter a drawing to receive four tickets to the 

This month's book is Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. 

Little Artists Storytime will occur on the first Thursday of each month. It will feature picture books and a related art project each month. We will learn about artists, art concepts, and topics that will give us inspiration to make our own art.

Calling all Janeites and escape room enthusiasts alike! Lydia Bennet has run away with the cowardly Mr. Wickham. Mr. Darcy humbly requests your help in finding them and saving the Bennets' reputation from ruin.

Join us once a month to discuss books by underrepresented authors. Our goal is to amplify these voices and experiences while discussing social issues in the context of fiction and non-fiction books.

James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time, selling hundreds of millions of fiction, nonfiction, and children's books worldwide during his illustrious, prolific career.