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2024 WDM Public Library Staff Favorites: Juvenile Fiction

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

2024 WDM Public Library Staff Favorites: Young Adult

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

2024 WDM Public Library Staff Favorites: Adult Fiction

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 

WDM Public Library Newsletters Under Construction

We know how much our patrons love getting our various newsletters, so we wanted to give everyone a heads up about some upcoming changes. The provider that sends out our newsletters, Bookletters, will no longer be in business after December 31, 2024. We are working hard to get our replacement newsletter system up and running by February 1, 2025. Keep checking back on our website and social media for updates about the launch of our new newsletter system. 

In This Day and Page: Making Libraries Accessible

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.

Drop Off Old Holiday Lights at WDM Public Library (11/12/24 - 1/31/25)

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 This Day and Page: Celebrate DINOvember with Elizabeth Gilbert Bedia

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! 

We're Pausing Material Donations Starting 11/6

UPDATE: We now anticipate our donation pause to continue through the first week of February 2025. 

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 This Day And Page: Author Conversation with Kimberly Stuart

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.

Are You Prepared for the Upcoming Election?

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 This Day and Page: Tween Club Read Turns 1!

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!)