Week Calendar

Join us weekly for rhymes, songs, bounces, stories, and a little playtime. For caregivers and babies ages 0 - 18 months.

Preschoolers and their caregivers can enjoy stories, rhymes, music, and learn school readiness skills. Afterwards, we will enjoy free-play together.

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! 

Drop-in to North Side and enjoy a round of mini golf from Pop Up Games in our meeting room! 

Bring your littles to our Play and Learn Group, designed for children ages 0-5, to discover, learn and play with different play equipment, toys, and sensory activities.

Get creative at North Side! Drop-in and paint a mini pumpkin to take home. 

While supplies last.

Visit the library for a special sneak preview of the Des Moines Community Playhouse program The Adventure Clubhouse.  This is a special interactive theater program designed for children 4-6 years old and their grown-ups.

Ukulele players of all skill levels can jam together at North Side! Take your ukulele skills to the next level, have fun jamming to some old favorite songs and learn new songs along the way!

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 Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel. 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 making SLIME! There will be Halloween-themed add-ins for you to use in celebration of spooky season.

Join other women who are practicing their English in this casual conversation group. We will chat, share coffee, and learn together in this group moderated by a Forest Avenue Library staff member.

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 at Central Library with special guest Tim from Never Board Games to help you create the game of your dreams! All supplies are provided - just bring your ideas (and an adult if under 10).

Join us at Forest Avenue Library for Blood on the Clocktower with The Dealt Hand!

Using fall and Halloween as inspiration, we’ll decorate edible works of art with frosting! Get creative and enjoy your sweet masterpieces. Supplies and snacks provided.

October 7, 14, 21, 28

Join us at North Side for Hotel Transylvania! Watch Dracula juggle fatherhood and chaos when a suitor shows interest in his daughter. Enjoy snacks and Halloween-themed crafts during the movie!

Music, movement, games, and activities - everyone’s invited! Join the fun at an ASAP Dance Party and dance your heart out. Snack provided for all participants. 

October 1, 8, 15, 22, 29.
 

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. 

Calling all poets to Freedom in Freeform. 

Join ASAP Teaching Artist Cameron Solen to create sensational sculptures! Transform repurposed and upcycled materials into imaginative three-dimensional works of art.

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.

Join sewing instructor Kaitlyn Munro on Wednesdays in October for a five-week Beginners Sewing program focused on hand-sewing basics. This program is for students in grades 4–8.

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

Join ASAP to create amazing art projects with thread, yarn, and wool! Explore techniques like wet felting, embroidery, knitting, and patch-making while crafting one-of-a-kind creations.

Are you looking for a place to trade your Pokémon cards? 

Bring your friends and come to this monthly program with any cards you want to trade.  This event is open to children ages 6-18. 

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.

Channel your inner mad scientist! Visit Central to take apart stuffies and reassemble them however you like. Supplies are provided; just bring your creativity and your best Dr. Frankenstein laugh!

October's film selection is The Wages of Fear (1953), a psychological drama directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot and starring Yves Montand and Charles Vanel.

Join our book club as we explore Matt Bell’s Refuse to Be Done. Discuss strategies for outlining, generating ideas, and tackling your first draft, while connecting with fellow writers.

Join the Des Moines Public Library & Latinx Immigrants of Iowa to make paper flowers and other decorations for a Day of the Dead ofrenda, which will be on display at the Central Library from October 28 through November 2.

Join CCPI (Calhoun County Paranormal Investigators) for an exciting dive into Iowa’s supernatural side!

The truth of Dr. Frankenstein's crimes is slowly coming to light. Your detective team has been contracted to find the evidence necessary to convict him. If evidence is not found by the end of the day, he will be released and never tried again.

Celebrate Spooky season with a read-aloud of Los Gatos Black on Halloween, followed by a black cat craft to take home.

Join the Des Moines Public Library & Latinx Immigrants of Iowa to make paper flowers and other decorations for a Day of the Dead ofrenda, which will be on display at the Central Library from October 28 through November 2.

Enjoy children's stories, rhymes, and arts & crafts! Join us at the Forest Avenue Library for a bilingual story hour on the fourth Thursday of each month, starting at 6:15 P.M.

For our October Book Discussion, we will be trying something new – We give you a genre, you pick the book you want to read! 

There are two rules:

Join professor Andy Langager for a series on different aspects of the history of photography. This session will explore how moving images went from Eadweard Muybridge’s “horse in motion” photographs in the 1870s to William K.