Event List

After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, a strong-willed girl journeys with her crew to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she has ever faced.

Aprons on, culinary kids! Make (and taste) a different delicious recipe each week. Drop in once or every week; all supplies and snack provided.

It's game on after school at North Side! Hang out in the meeting room with snacks and a wide variety of games. Play Nintendo Switch on the big screen, or enjoy checkers, Connect 4, Exploding Kittens, and more!

Learn how to use the Bambu X-1 Carbon filament 3D printer and the Formlabs Form 3 resin 3D printer.  Participants will learn how to use the free software to prepare their 3D files for printing at the library.

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.

Are you searching for a new job, having trouble navigating a website, or looking to learn a new digital skill? Goodwill is at the library to help!

Listen to silly stories, sing songs, dance to music, and make art! Join Miss Emily for Family Storytime every Wednesday morning at 10:15 AM. Designed for children ages 0–5, this storytime welcomes all ages to join in the fun.

Pick up your pencil and let's have fun with lines, shapes, patterns, and color. Each week we'll make a different drawing project to take home. 

Get creative at North Side! Drop-in on Wednesdays to enjoy our large cart of art supplies.

Join us at Forest Avenue Library for Card Club. We will play trick-taking card games such as 500, Euchre, Hearts, Spades, Tiến lên and others.

Children ages 3 to 5 and their caregivers can join us Thursdays at 10:00 a.m. for a 30-minute storytime with stories, music, and fun activities!

Join us for indoor Park-N-Play, hosted by the City of Des Moines Parks and Recreation department on Thursday mornings in the Franklin Avenue Library meeting room.

Enjoy a fun storytime featuring movement, music, and rhyming! 

Need help with a phone, laptop, or tablet, or another electronic device? Come by the Central Library at 2PM on Thursdays and our staff will work with you to figure things out. This is a drop-in, first-come first-served service.

Art Club 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.

Join the library and the Society for Financial Awareness for a series of free programs to help you plan for retirement. At this session we will cover:

- Estate planning misconceptions

Story Lab is a relaxed, supportive meetup for writers working on short stories or novels. Bring your plot questions, character issues, or story challenges, and we’ll talk them through together—no reading aloud. All experience levels welcome.

Are you searching for a new job, having trouble navigating a website, or looking to learn a new digital skill? Goodwill is at the library to help!

Join us in the Forest Meeting Room where building blocks will be available for open play! Use your imagination to build your ideas or use the STEM-challenge prompts and building guides to bring ideas to life. Drop-in anytime between 12-5pm.

Connect with area organizations for resources. Community advocates will provide information about community resources like meal sites and shelters.

Visit the library for a special sneak preview of the Des Moines Community Playhouse production of The Lightning Thief based on the popular book by Rick Riordan.

Spend a couple hours with other crafters and work on your knit, crochet, or needle craft projects. Please bring your own supplies and projects with you. This program happens the first Saturday of the month.