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. See all of the work they've done on the Accessibility Resources page here.

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!

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. She will be at the library on Tuesday, November 12 from 6:45 – 8:00 PM for a Booked for the Evening Author Event, and you can either join us in person or on Zoom to see her speak.

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. She will be at the library on Tuesday, September 24 from 6:45 – 8:00 PM for the event, and you can either join us in person or on Zoom to see her speak.

In today’s episode, I got to sit down and chat with our Teen Services Assistant, Hailey McKinney, about the book c lub 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!) Learn more about the West Des Moines Public Library's book clubs here: https://www.wdmlibrary.org/events/book-clubs

I had the immense pleasure to sit down with the library’s new Director, Traci Glass, to chat about her background in libraries and her ultimate vision for the West Des Moines Public Library as she looks to the future. This is one you won’t want to miss.

In today’s episode, we sat down with our Head of Youth Services, Jenna Ehler. She highlighted some of the new learning kits we recently added to our collection and shared how our patrons can start checking them out and exploring them at home. Check out a Learning Kit here.

In today’s episode, we sat down with local picture book author Brooke Van Sickle. Not only is Brooke the author of three picture books, but she is the creator of a children’s publishing house called Bibliokid Publishing. Through Bibliokid and her blog, Journey to Kidlit, she has helped over thirty picture book authors realize their dreams of getting published.

In today’s episode, we sat down with our Library Director Darryl Eschete. If you’re listening to this episode between October 1-7, it’s Banned Books Week. While we chatted, Darryl shared the historical context behind Banned Books Week and explained why we celebrate here at the West Des Moines Public Library. Learn more about it at BannedBooksWeek.org.

In today’s episode, we sat down with our Homebound and Outreach Assistant Betsy Richter. Betsy wears many hats in the outreach world, but one of her newest is coordinating memory care storytimes and kits to eldercare facilities in our community. She shares what inspired her to start this program and why it’s so important to engage with our population experiencing cognitive decline. Learn more about this program by visiting: https://www.wdmlibrary.org/services/outreach/elder-care-facilities