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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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, music, and fun activities!

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

Today we have a special guest to read a book in Spanish and English!

Ahoy, mateys--get ready to pAAARRRRRRty! Come celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day at the Central Library, complete with snacks, crafts, and activities. Adventure awaits!

Bring your young ones to our Little Explorers program, designed for children ages 0-5, to discover, learn and play! Activities will help build early literacy skills through the five Simple Steps: Read, Write, Sing, Play, Talk.

Love trucks? So do we! Explore vehicles from the City of Des Moines Public Works and Fire Departments outside North Side Library. Check out a fire engine, garbage truck, and more!

Join us for a drop-in event for all ages. Come in, get cozy, and choose from a variety of games or puzzles to play with friends!

 Friends of the North Side Library Meeting.  New members always welcome.

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.

This conversation club is both for native speakers and those wanting to learn Russian. Topics of conversation are meant to be light. Get to know other members of your community, or assist those wanting to learn Russian.

This month we will be reading and discussing A Gentleman in Moscow. Copies of the book are available at the North Side Library.

Join us at the Forest Ave Library for a drop-in STEM challenge! This month we will be designing boats and testing them in water to see if they will float. Supplies will be available for you to create at the library. 

Need to write a resume for the first time? Want some help with editing your current resume? Or do you just want to do a little refining to help you get the job you want?

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.

Join us for South Side's Monthly Book Discussion!

This month, we're reading Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea. 

Presentado por Marlú Abarca, Trabajadora Social y Especialista de Alcance Comunitario de SHIIP-SMP - División de Seguros de Iowa

Watercolor Painting with ASAP Teaching Artist Laura Todd

Sticker Factory with ASAP Teaching Artist Lunita Eclatt!

Create awesome pixel art with Perler beads! Design your masterpiece on a board, then melt the beads to make a one-of-a-kind creation. Just bring your creativity; materials are provided.

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 Mondays in September at Forest for Drama Games with ASAP Teaching Artist Saige Mayfield.

Join us in celebrating the joy of reading and art as we explore materials and STEM activities inspired by a picture book.

When you're learning to read, practicing out loud can be daunting! Visit Central Library to practice reading with an ARL TheraPet. Engaging with animals is a great way to boost confidence and reduce anxiety around learning to read.

Come to South Side for an hour of sensory exploration!

Earn volunteer hours by assisting with library programs and projects! Teens ages 12 to 18 can drop in any open Wednesday and volunteer for one hour.

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

Join the Friends of the Forest Avenue Library for the monthly meeting at Forest Avenue Library!

Join teaching artist Lydia Nong for this month's ASAP Thursday classes where playfulness and creativity meet. You'll explore art through games! Snack provided for all participants. Sept 4, 11, 18, 25

Are you a fan of graphic novels? Join us for our EPIC Graphic Novel BOOK CLUB for kids ages 7-11.

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.

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 third Thursday of each month to play, but

Join us at Forest Avenue Library for Women & Money. Shalini Babu, a licensed financial planner with Prudential Advisors, will share insights to help women better understand their finances.

Join us for a special family evening with our friends at Des Moines Parks and Recreation! Kids and their caregivers will learn about monarch butterflies, including how they are tagged, released, and tracked.

Ukulele players of all skill levels can jam together at North Side! Improve your skills, have fun playing old favorites, and learn new songs.

September's film selection is Boyhood (2014), a coming-of-age drama directed by Richard Linklater and starring Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke.

Swedish Death Cleaning is a thoughtful, effective method of organizing and decluttering, popularized by Margareta Magnusson’s best-selling book and TV series, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning.

Learn how to cook different cuisines from around the world with CultureALL ambassadors!

This month, Gurwinder Kapur will teach us how to make Laksa!

Craft Night at the Forest Avenue Library is a great place to spend time with friends, meet new people, and enjoy a fun activity. Each month will focus on a new craft, and supplies will be provided.

Join us for a special Pajama Storytime all about fairies! Enjoy enchanting stories, a sweet treat, and make your own fairy garden to take home. Wear your coziest pajamas and bring a favorite stuffie for this fun and magical evening.

David Ellis is a judge and an Edgar-award-winning author of ten novels of crime fiction, as well as eight bestselling books co-authored with James Patterson. His novels have been translated into more than ten languages worldwide.