Library News

In today’s episode, I spoke with two staff members from the West Des Moines Public Library, Kate Thompson and Susan Greenwood, who were founding members of our Accessibility Committee. They recently presented at the Iowa Library Association Conference about their work on the committee and how other libraries can do an accessibility audit of their space and services. They also highlighted some of the incredible work they’ve done so far to make the library more accessible and some dream projects they’re working towards in the future.

We’ve teamed up with Metro Waste Authority to be a convenient drop-off location for your old holiday lights! Just drop them in the bin near our Accounts and Checkouts Desk through January 31 and we'll take care of the rest.

Accepted lights: LED, classic, plastic & glass bulbs, net lights, icicle lights, and even battery-powered strands.

Please drop lights loose, not bagged. Holiday lights are NOT regular recyclables and should not go in your curbside recycling bin. They can damage the sorting equipment at the Metro Recycling Facility.

In today’s episode, we’re celebrating DINOvember with local picture book author, Elizabeth Gilbert Bedia! Liz will be hosting a fun dinosaur ⁠storytime⁠ on Saturday, November 16 at 10:30 AM where she’ll read from her new book, out Tuesday, November 12, called Spinosaurus Makes a Splash. She also will be hosting a craft and singing songs with attendees. We can’t wait! 

Thanks to your generosity, we are currently processing a lot of donations. To help us catch up, we will be putting a pause on accepting new donations of all materials. We anticipate this pause continuing through the end of 2024. 

Our Book Sale area will still very-much be active! We have lots of materials waiting in the wings to put up for the Book Sale through the end of the year. 

Some other places that currently accept book donations include: 

Many Hands Thrift Market

In today’s episode, we spoke with local bestselling author Kimberly Stuart. Kimberly is the author of nine books, including the Heidi Elliott series, and, most recently Star for Jesus (And Other Jobs I Quit), a memoir about rediscovering the grace that sets us free.

In today’s episode, I got to speak with the first author presenting at the Friends Foundation’s Booked for the Evening series, Stephanie R. Caffrey. Stephanie is a local author who writes romantic suspense and has published two books (so far!) titled ⁠Mistaken Identity⁠ and ⁠Be My Little Baby⁠.

By Traci Glass, Library Director

Our library staff is happy to assist you with any questions you might have regarding the upcoming general election on November 5, 2024.

The library will be an Early Voting site for POLK COUNTY voters only from Tuesday, October 22 - Saturday, October 26 between the hours of 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM in our Community Room. Paper ballots are available at this site only for those who live in West Des Moines precincts, but computerized voting machines are available for all Polk County voters.

In today’s episode, I got to sit down and chat with our Teen Services Assistant, Hailey McKinney, about the book club that she runs for kiddos ages 11-14: Tween Club Read. Tween Club Read recently turned a year old, so I wanted to check in with her on how the year has been (and we might just get a little testimonial from one of the Tweens in the club themselves!) 

Our West Des Moines Public Library podcast, In This Day and Page, is BACK for season 3! To kick us off, we sat down with our Director, Traci Glass, to chat about her background in libraries and her ultimate vision for the WDM Public Library. This is one you won't want to miss. 

Listen to the Full Episode Here. 

We rounded out the end of our Fiscal Year in June 2024. Looking back on the year, we wanted to share some of the highlights, including all of the fabulous things we were able to accomplish with the help of our dedicated patrons. 

Not only did our wonderful new Library Director, Traci Glass, join us in May, but we also increased our event attendees to 31,994, opened a 20th deposit collection at a local senior living facility, tripled our impressions across social media, and so much more! 

UPDATE 10/15: We have identified our new ILL provider, WorldShare, and are working to implement the program into our existing systems. We will have full details to share very soon! 

written by Traci Glass, WDM Public Library Director 

I’m happy to be able to introduce myself to all of you! My name is Traci Glass, and I am proud, excited, and just beyond thrilled to be your new Library Director working alongside the passionate, dedicated, and incredibly talented staff of the West Des Moines Public Library. This staff really does feel like a family to me, and I am so lucky to be a part of such a wonderful group of staff as well as the welcoming and kind community of West Des Moines.

Did you know that May is National Pet Month? In that spirit, we are offering fine forgiveness when WDM Library card holders show us their pet photos between Monday, May 20 and Friday, May 31! Each photo counts as a $1.00 off of fines. Bonus: if you'd like for your adorable pet to be added to our Pet Wall throughout the month, please email your photo to library@wdm.iowa.gov. One lucky person who submits their photo will be entered to win a WDM Library tote bag. Don't have any fines? We'd still love to see your pictures!

Support the West Des Moines Public Library in style! We have new WDM Library merchandise designs available for adults and kids, each printed on-demand and shipped right to you. All proceeds from sales will directly support the library. 

Check out an array of: