Library News

Calling all artists! Do you love the WDM Public Library? Show your creativity and library love by designing new library cards! In celebration of National Library Week this April, we’re inviting community members of all ages to submit their best designs for a chance to have their artwork featured on official, limited-edition library cards.

Our library director, Traci, will select one winning design from three different age groups: kids (0-11 years), teens (12-17 years), and adults (18+ years). 

How to Participate:

The West Des Moines Public Library is happy to announce the first Academy of Fandom! Maybe you know everything about Dr. Who but would like to learn about why Buffy the Vampire Slayer is still popular. Perhaps you read a lot of DC graphic novels, but would like to expand your universe. Maybe you don’t know the difference between Star Wars or Star Trek and you’re just curious about what it’s all about. Welcome to the Academy of Fandom! We will have one session per week over six weeks on a wide variety of topics.

As of February, 2025 the WDM Public Library has upgraded to NYTimes Online All Access, which includes:

The 97th Academy Awards (The Oscars) presentation is scheduled for Sunday, March 2 at 7pm.  There's still time to watch all of the films before the presentation!  See our list for major categories below including links to our catalog for DVDs to checkout, the streaming service to watch online, or the theater where the movies are showing.  And, just for fun, here is a ballot from thegoldknight.com to vote for your favorites! 

The West Des Moines Public Library Staff is sharing their favorite Juvenile (chapter books, picture books, graphic novels, and nonfiction) picks from the year below! You can put the books on hold by clicking the titles, or you can stop by the display in front of the Accounts and Checkout Desk and see them in-person. 

Check out our other lists!

Adult Fiction

The West Des Moines Public Library Staff is sharing their favorite Young Adult picks from the year below! You can put the books on hold by clicking the titles, or you can stop by the display in front of the Accounts and Checkout Desk and see them in-person. 

Check out our other lists!

Adult Fiction

The West Des Moines Public Library Staff is sharing their favorite nonfiction picks from the year below! You can put the books on hold by clicking the titles, or you can stop by the display in front of the Accounts and Checkout Desk and see them in-person. 

Check out our other lists! 

Adult Fiction

Juvenile

The West Des Moines Public Library Staff is sharing their favorite adult fiction picks from the year below! You can put the books on hold by clicking the titles, or you can stop by the display in front of the Accounts and Checkout Desk and see them in-person. 

Check out our other lists!

Adult Nonfiction 

UPDATE 3/25: Our new eNewsletter system will be up and running for our April 2025 newsletter! If you previously subscribed to our eNewsletter, you'll see it in your inbox on April 1. 

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! 

UPDATE: We anticipate this pause continuing through March 2025. Please call ahead to confirm we are accepting donations at 515-222-3400. 

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 the first week in February 2025. 

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. 

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.