It's the middle of February. If the cold and snow has caused you to give up on your New Year's Resolutions, you're not alone. Our Book Chat team has put together a list of books that can help you reach (or re-reach) your goals. These books cover health, wellness, mindfulness, nutrition, financial he...
Read MoreThe Des Moines Public Library recently added Creativebug to our collection of online resources. Creativebug offers thousands of online arts and crafts classes, including knitting, crocheting, drawing, painting, home decór, and more. The classes take the form of easy-to-follow instructional vide...
Read MoreTheresa and Lynn join us today on the DMPL Podcast! The two Library Assistants love the DMPL Reading Challenge, and they've picked three books each to discuss - one in each of three different categories. Apple Podcasts/iTunes | Google Play | Spotify | Stitcher&nb...
Read MoreFebruary is Black History Month and a great opportunity to highlight books by black authors and featuring black characters. We've highlighted a few adult, teen, and children books below, and we invite you to look at our Recommended Reads page to see more book suggestions from the Book Chat team...
Read MoreFor Ashley Molzen, helping the community has been a long pursuit. Growing up in northwest Iowa, she first started working with young English language learners as part of a high school course, rotating among different professions to learn more about those careers. Molzen, however, made her mind up...
Read MoreOn the latest DMPL Podcast, AViD author Adam Higginbotham joins us for seven questions! Learn what stories shaped his writing styles, why he found himself at the very very top of the Empire State Building, and what his next book is going to be about. Apple Podcasts/iTunes | Google P...
Read MoreYou never know when you’ll have to solve a crime. It could be when you’re bored at home with your sisters, when you’re visiting a researcher’s house to see their collection of plants, or even when you’ve hit a dead end in your Hollywood career. Luckily, these ladies and gentlemen were up for the cal...
Read MoreJaneé and Rebecca, with the Book Chat team, join host Aaron to chat about their favorite books this year. What made them laugh? What made them cry? What made 2020 a great year for reading? Listen to the podcast to find out, and be sure to check out the show notes to see other books they loved that t...
Read MoreAs 2020 winds to an end, we're celebrating the books you loved. Listed below are the books and DVDs most requested by our patrons in 2020. It's a list of unique and fun books and movies, symbolizing what has been a very unique year. Adult Fiction Where the Crawdads Sing, by ...
Read MoreWith the holidays around the corner, it's the perfect occasion to squeeze in a couple books. That's especially true if you're not traveling this year. This list of books is all under 300 pages, making them the perfect companion for the extra time you might have throughout the next couple weeks. ...
Read MoreEvery strong woman was once a child. The Des Moines Public Library’s Mighty Girl Empowerment series aims to give girls ages 10-12 the skills and information they need to find their inner mightiness as they mature. Erica Eis, a children’s librarian at the Forest Avenue Library, began the program i...
Read MoreThe Des Moines Public Library hired Emanuel Sinclair Mitchell as its Deputy Director in September. Mitchell comes to DMPL with a wealth of experience in a number of different library settings, including at public libraries, academic libraries, and even prison libraries. This broad experience has giv...
Read MoreIt's the first episode in our latest AViD Podcast Series! Kate Quinn answers seven questions about her books, what she reads, how she writes, and more. After you're done listening to the podcast, be sure to register for her AViD event next Wednesday, December 9, at 7:00 PM! You can do so at the AViD...
Read MoreEisner-nominated artist Scott Chantler joins us on the DMPL Podcast today to discuss his newest graphic novel Bix. It's a biography of Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke, a Davenport native and a revered member of the Golden Age of Jazz in the 1920s and 1930s. Chantler and host Aaron Gerne...
Read MoreThere’s a certain power to reading aloud. When children read aloud, they expand their vocabulary and build creativity. “It is so magical to imagine the characters in a read aloud and picture how everything is created in your mind,” Maddie Bassman, a children’s librarian at the East Side Libr...
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