Blog Entries

Sharing Books

I will confess I’ve never been part of a book club. I have often found the books chosen to be interesting and I can understand the draw, but it has never been for me. That got me thinking about how and where I do share and talk about books (aside from regularly in my job).

I realized that sharing books and talking about books happens throughout my life in a variety of ways. The easiest example is the book that my daughter and I are reading together at night before bed. We previously read the “Clementine” series by Sara Pennypacker and thoroughly enjoyed delving into th... Read Full Blog

Citius, Altius, Fortius - Communiter (Faster, Higher, Stronger - Together)

The Winter Olympic games have begun! From February 6 to 22, athletes from 93 countries will compete in 16 sports in venues across northern Italy. Events featured include the usuals: hockey, skiing, skating, and bobsled. Then there’s the obscure sports we see rarely: skeleton, freestyle skiing, snowboard cross, biathlon (my current obsession) and the newest winter Olympic sport: ski mountaineering. For that event, athletes use skins on skis to climb a mountain, then de-skin and zip down between gates like the downhill events.

Ames Public Library has books and movies t... Read Full Blog

What’s Your Mother Language?

February has many well-known holidays from Groundhog Day to Valentine’s Day to Presidents’ Day.  However, I would like to share with you a little-known day that I just learned about: International Mother Language Day. Celebrated on February 21st, International Mother Language Day celebrates languages and cultural diversity.

According to the United Nations, International Mother Language Day started in 1999, after Bangladesh put it forth as an initiative. For more than 25 years, people have been using it as a reminder that your mother language, or first language,... Read Full Blog

Time to Get Growing!

It’s 9 degrees out with a Winter Weather Advisory just behind us as I write this, but I’m already thinking about spring. As an avid gardener I begin dreaming about my garden early. Every January I inevitably I find myself daydreaming about what I want to grow. What seeds do I have left over from last year? What seeds do I want to acquire? When do I need to get them sown indoors to have a productive harvest? At Ames Public Library we’re fortunate to have the Ames Seed Library, a community-driven catalog of free seeds!

To kick off the 2026 growing season, APL will b... Read Full Blog

In the Christmas Spirit

This time of year, I love losing myself in a great Christmas novel. For me, “great” means teens enjoying seasonal glitz (snow, lights, music, etc.), lots of humor, a few plot twists and maybe a trace of romance. 

“Talk Santa to Me” by Linda Urban fits the bill perfectly. Francie’s (short for Frankincense) family runs a Christmas shop and a Santa school. I loved the dry, hilarious bits like her name:  her mom stared into the eyes of a wise man statue while giving birth. Francie is trying to settle into a new high school, save up for a Miata, and avoi... Read Full Blog

Take the Stress Out of Gifting: Let Our Curated Book Lists Be Your Guide

The pressure to find the perfect gift can feel overwhelming — especially when that gift is a book. At the Ames Public Library, we want you to enjoy giving, not agonizing. That’s why our staff has thoughtfully curated a selection of standout titles published within the past year, just for you.

Our holiday gift lists live on the Recommendations page of our website (www.AmesPL.org/books-movies-more/recommendations), but you can also find printed copies of the gift lists here at the library. Whether you’re shopping for an adult or youth reader (or even a baby!... Read Full Blog

The Season of Giving

The busy holiday season is upon us and the Library has you covered!

Check out the Ames Public Library’s Friends Foundation’s Literary Grounds Bookstore for fabulous book bundles. We’ve pulled together the best selections in convenient bundles all tied up with bow! Find a fun mix of cookbooks for the foodie on your list, a stack of middle school favorites, or a mix of memoirs. Or try a Literary Grounds Gift Certificate- the gift that gives twice! Proceeds support the Ames Public Library, and the recipient gets to select gently used books, DVDs, video games, or puzzles.... Read Full Blog

Shopping Help for the Holiday Season

If you’re anything like me, the holiday shopping season has snuck up out of nowhere. The time crunch after Halloween can be stressful, but I always end up enjoying the planning part of the process. Making lists, browsing websites, and shopping for other people puts me in the festive frame of mind. 

Every year, library staff create gift lists to help you buy books for loved ones. It can be hard to select books for someone else, especially when their reading taste varies from yours or you haven’t been keeping up with new, buzzworthy releases. Out of all the books p... Read Full Blog

I like big books and I cannot lie

No that’s not just a song parody; In my case it’s also true. I didn’t realize until recently, though, just how true it is. I started my big book journey with “Lonesome Dove” by Larry McMurtry. I remembered watching the miniseries back before streaming was a thing and people actually had to watch a show when it aired or not at all. I’ll admit I was hesitant to get too excited about 843 pages of aged white men lamenting their glory days “taming” the Old West.

I was wrong.

Unlike my memories of the miniseries, McMurtry tells an engaging, thought-provoking, at times he... Read Full Blog

Game Day Gastronomy

Tailgating represents a uniquely North American socio-gastronomic phenomenon, transforming an unremarkable parking lot into a temporary culinary event. (Some say there is even a sporting event afterwards). These setups run from a couple of coolers and some folding chairs to fully operational kitchens in an outdoor environment, and if you are taking it that seriously you should check out some of the tailgate-specific cookbooks the library has. These cookbooks function not merely as sources of recipes, but as sacred documents that rigorously codify the culture of communal out... Read Full Blog

Squirrels!

There’s changing leaves, crisp apples, and tomorrow is the first day of October! Along with being a lovely month, October is also National Squirrel Month.  At first when I heard of that, I laughed, but then I started thinking a bit more. There are a lot of wonderful children’s books with squirrels—why not read one this month? This can also help kids make connections to their own lives while reading. After all, they may have seen a squirrel just this morning!

Our very youngest readers can start out in the board book section.  A wonderful choice is Nanc... Read Full Blog

Women’s Basketball: Shattering the Glass

On a whim this morning at HyVee I bought a box of Caitlin’s Crunch Time cereal. As I munched on the frosted flakes, I got thinking about all the athletes who are breaking barriers for girls to dream about becoming sports superstars.

Caitlin Clark’s rise to basketball fame started here in Iowa of course. She was already an exceptional player in high school, then catapulted to the top of the women’s college game during her years at the University of Iowa. Now we’re cheering her on along with her Indiana Fever teammates in the WNBA.

The women playing in Iowa’s fir... Read Full Blog

Characters of a Certain Age

As I head into the second half of my life, I am drawn to books whose characters are also older, experiencing change, looking for connection and meaning in new ways and places. From the funny to the heartwarming to the death-defying, here are some recent favorites.

In “Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt, Tova Sullivan has been rebuilding since her son disappeared, and after her husband dies, she seeks solace in an overnight janitorial job at the local aquarium and her longtime friends, the Knitwits. I loved the slower pace and tone of this book, as wel... Read Full Blog

The Importance of Play for Adults

We all know that playing is important for children’s development, but play is also important for adult’s mental health and well-being.  Regular play allows adults to relax, connect with friends and family, and improve creative thinking and problem-solving skills.  Play has been linked to having a better mood, increased productivity, and healthier relationships.[1] 

Play is any activity you do only because you enjoy it, that brings with it an in-the-moment attitude and allows you to engage deeply either with the activity itself or with the people playing w... Read Full Blog

Television

by Seth Warburton

Our disheartening subject today is that well-known instrument of repression, that symbol of deluded decadence, that cathode-rayed betrayer of sensible taste and thief of precious reading time: the television.  

At least in the days of my youth (now, alas, long fled, and along with them seemingly all morality) the television was a blocky instrument, possessed of three dimensions and therefor useful as a shelf.  In these debauched, modern times, the television has grown hedonistically thin, and thus completely useless even as a surface for piling b... Read Full Blog