Library News

Reviewed by Claire, a Teen Advisory Board Member

Ever wonder what the WDM Library staff is reading? Here's your chance to get a peek into what our favorite books were from this summer! 

Staff picks: 

As West Des Moines students start back to school, we wanted to highlight an invaluable resource that was developed by The Iowa Core. Their Parent Guides, in English and Spanish, provide an overview of what students will learn by the end of each grade level as directed by the Iowa Core, the state’s academic standard.

Review written by Claire, a Teen Advisory Board Member

“From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial that Galvanized the Asian American Movement” by Paula Yoo is an account of Vincent Chin’s death, the movement that followed, and the first civil rights trial on the grounds of Asian American discrimination. 

The library underwent many changes between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021. Explore some of the highlights in our Library Annual Report linked below. 

Read the FY2021 Library Annual Report. 

From Joe Pollpeter, Vice President, WDM Library Board of Trustees

This summer I will be wrapping up my four-year term on the West Des Moines Library Board of Trustees. This follows the six years I spent as part of the West Des Moines Library Friends Foundation.

As you start to think about heading back to school, we wanted to highlight some of the hidden gems that can be checked out at the library. These items are part of our Library of Things and range from technology items, children’s STEM kits, Meet Your Neighbors Story Boxes and even a car charging kit!

You might be asking yourself: what is a Library of Things? By definition, it’s a collection of objects loaned that vary widely but go beyond books, journals and media traditionally offered in a library. Our offerings continue to expand as we meet the needs of our growing community.

In This Day and Page is a new podcast created by the West Des Moines Public Library with the goal of sharing all the different library resources, services, and programs we offer! Through staff and community member interviews, join us as we explore the ins and outs of the library world. Look out for a new episode every Monday on all major podcast platforms.

Who doesn't love an old story told in a new way? That's why we're featuring Young Adult Retellings on our YA Display Shelf this month! Explore the books we're featuring now. 

Two of our most regularly used programs at the West Des Moines Public Library are the Senior Outreach and Homebound Delivery services. These programs were created to give WDM residents who have difficulty coming into the library access to library materials, no matter their living situation.

The Homebound Delivery service has been around for over twenty years and has been utilized by hundreds of patrons. In 2020, library staff and volunteers selected and delivered materials monthly to an average of 50 patrons in individual homes. 

For our Renovation Celebration Open House, we invited our patrons to compete in two competitions: a scavenger hunt around the building and a Haiku writing contest. We are glad to recognize our winners of each contest and thank those who participated. We were overwhelmed by the talent and turnout! 

So, without further ado... 

Our scavenger hunt winners are.... Mishka and Emma! 

The WDM Public Library is thrilled to now offer ABCmouse.com, an online early learning resource, to our patrons. The award-winning ABCmouse curriculum is designed to help young children (ages 2-8+) build a strong foundation for future academic success. ABCmouse is 100% educational, with more than 10,000 learning activities (books, puzzles, educational games, art activities, songs, etc.) across all major subject areas—reading, math, science, social studies, art, and music. Over 1,000 of these learning activities are in Spanish.

This weekend, the West Des Moines Public Library hosted an open house to commemorate the $3 million renovation that wrapped up in April 2021. The celebration also marked the 25-year anniversary of the building at 4000 Mills Civic Parkway which broke ground in 1996.

This renovation became a part of the Library’s strategic plan in 2017 and came to fruition in early 2020 despite the setbacks from the Coronavirus pandemic. In fact, even with COVID-19 and the renovation, the Library was only closed for 81 total days from March 2020 to April 2021.