In This Day and Page

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 t...

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...

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 j...

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 Moi...

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 abou...

In today’s episode, we sat down with our Youth Services Summer Intern Ben Siegal in honor of National Intern Day! He spoke with us about his experience working at the West Des Monies Public Library for the summer as well as plans for his future.

In today’s episode, we’re sitting down with four library staff members in honor of National Library Week. First, we’ll speak with Susan Greenwood, the Library’s Administrative Secretary. Next we’ll chat with Megan Hartman, a Youth Services Assistant. Third on the list is Rachel Bussan, our Collection Services Specialist. And last but certainly not least we’ll talk with Chris Mortimore, one of our...

In today’s episode, we’re highlighting the important work that volunteers do here at the library. We had a chance to sit down with Hailey McKinney, who coordinates our teen volunteers; Heather Hildreth, who helps coordinate our adult volunteers; and Sue, Malina and Sarah , three of our current library volunteers. If you’re interested in applying to become a library volunteer after hearing from the...

In today’s episode, we sat down with author Denise Williams. Denise will be the guest author at our upcoming Friends Foundation Author Event on Tuesday, March 28 from 6:45 – 8:00 PM. Denise is the author of "touching, funny, steamy romance novels" including How to Fail at Flirting , The Fastest Way to Fall , Do You Take This Man , and her latest collection of novellas, The Sweetest Conne...

In today’s episode, we sat down with Ashley Molzen, the Community Engagement Supervisor at the Des Moines Public Library, and Jenna Ehler, The Head of Youth Services here at the West Des Moines Public Library, about the Simple Steps to Success Early Literacy Program. The program, which started at DMPL in 2017, is now being introduced to our patrons here in West Des Moines. For more information, pl...

In today’s episode, we sat down with author Kali White VanBaale. Kali will be the guest author at our upcoming Friends Foundation Author Event on Tuesday, February 28 from 6:45 – 8:00 PM. Not only is Kali local to Des Moines, but she is the recipient of the American Book Award and the Iowa Arts Council major artist grant. She has published three books and her latest is titled The Monsters We Make....

In today’s episode, we sat down with author Kay Fenton Smith. Kay co-wrote the book “Baking Blue Ribbons: Stories and Recipes from the Iowa State Fair Food Competitions” with Carol McGarvey. The book highlights the history, stories, and recipes from the very first Iowa State Fair up through present day. Kay will be at the library on Sunday, December 11 speaking about her book and giving guests a t...

In today’s episode, we sat down with two members of the WDM Library Friend Foundation Board, Kate Amdor and Heather Martin, to learn more about the upcoming Friends of the Library Book Sale! The largest book sale of the year will be taking place in the library’s community room on Thursday, December 1 from 4:00 – 7:00 PM, Friday, December 2 from 4:00 – 7:00 PM, and Saturday, December 3 from 9:00 AM...

In today’s episode, we sat down with author John Mahoney. John played at Notre Dame as a safety from 2017 – 2020 and co-wrote a book with his fellow teammate about the wild, undefeated season that Notre Dame had in 2020. Learn more about joining us for John’s author event on November 22 here: https://www.wdmlibrary.org/event/author-event-john-mahoney  

In today’s episode, we sat down with Kate Thompson, one of our Adult Services Assistants, to learn more about the upcoming Great Books Showcase: Holiday Edition on November 7 from 7:00 - 8:30 PM! Listen on to get a sneak preview of the event and learn some tips and tricks to find your next great read.

In today’s episode, we sat down with Ann Renken, our Head of Collection Services, to learn more about how to donate physical materials to the library. Now’s your chance to listen! Find out which items we’ll gladly accept and how your generous material donations can benefit the WDM Library. Our full donation policy can be found here: https://www.wdmlibrary.org/about/material-donations

In today’s episode, we sat down with Carol Grant, the president of our library Board of Trustees, and Darryl Eschete, our library director, to talk about our new five-year strategic plan. They each shared what the development of the plan looked like as well as the initiatives they look forward to seeing take shape in the next five years. You can read our full strategic plan at wdmlibrary.org/strat...

In today’s episode, we sat down with Stacy Conradt, a member of the West Des Moines Public Library Friends Foundation Board. She spoke about the upcoming author series that the Friends will be hosting this year including visits from Heather Gudenkauf, John Mahoney, Kali Van Baale, and Denise Williams. If you’d like to learn more about the Friends Foundation, you can visit www.wdmlibrary.org/friend...

In today’s episode, we sat down with Gale Brubaker, the Executive Director of the West Des Moines Historical Society. Gale spoke with us about the return of the Iowa Files History Series and gave us a preview into what to look forward to for the next eight months of the program. The first session, The Only Free Road, meets here at the library on Sunday, September 18. See the full list of Iowa File...

In today’s episode, we sat down with our Youth Services Summer Intern Elizabeth Lovell in honor of National Intern Day! She spoke with us about her experience working at the West Des Monies Public Library for the summer as well as plans for her future.