Blog Entries

Reading Challenges to Get Through the Winter

It’s getting to be that time of year again. Winter holidays are here, the air is cold, night falls fast. People are spending more time inside, and coziness is a must. There is no better season to get some serious reading done.

The Icelanders have Jolabokaflod, a winter holiday tradition where people give books as gifts and spend Christmas Eve reading, hot beverage in hand. This practice originated during World War II because paper was one of the few goods not rationed for the war effort. Books became the default holiday gift and the trend has persisted. A... Read Full Blog

Holiday Gift Ideas from Ames Public Library

Shopping for holiday gifts at the library seems counter-intuitive, since, well… libraries let you borrow things for free! While you can check out armfuls of books, movies, music, magazines, games, puzzles and puppets for free, there are ways to do holiday shopping at Ames Public Library as well.

Literary Grounds is Ames Public Library’s bookstore, located on the first floor. You can shop for gently-used books, puzzles, and more. Most items cost between $1 and $5, and all proceeds benefit the APL Friends Foundation, which serves to enhance APL’s services,... Read Full Blog

Percy Jackson and the Read-Alikes

I’m not sure how many of you are aware, but on December 20th Disney will release a new TV adaptation for “Percy Jackson and the Olympians”. This has been a popular topic of discussion for the numerous youth and teens that come to the Library. And honestly, I have high hopes for it since the film adaptations were a let down, to say the least.

Anyway, I thought now might be a good idea to spread the word about Percy Jackson read-alikes. There is of course the Rick Riordan Presents series, which focuses on highlighting middle grade authors and their books abou... Read Full Blog

Kids and Cooking

Thanksgiving is almost upon us!  If you celebrate, you may be getting ready to prepare a feast later this week. If your kids are anything like mine, they’re excited to help as well.  But why wait for a holiday to cook together? Besides being fun, kids can learn lots from cooking, from reading to science to different cultures.

Reading recipes is a great way to get reading practice. Cookbooks may also help with kids’ vocabulary. Many times, as in “Star Wars: The Padawan Cookbook” by Jenn Fujikawa, there’s a section that explains different cookin... Read Full Blog

Books to Movies

by Grace Hoffhines

When I was in elementary school, the Harry Potter movies were all the rage. My classmates would spend recess discussing potions professors, magical dragons, and a game called Quidditch. Naturally feeling left out, I begged my parents to let me watch the movies so that I too could be a part of the discussion. No matter how bad I wanted it, my dad refused. He told me that he wanted me to read the books before I saw the movies. Of course, eight-year-old me was not thrilled. “The books are always better than the movies,” he would tell me and locked away his Harry Po... Read Full Blog

A Frightfully Good Time

It’s that time of year again. As the air becomes crisp, leaves turn color and fall. Sunlight takes on a different hue, and the days grow noticeably shorter, while the nights grow inexorably longer. Around this time every year, my movie viewing takes a predicable turn. A turn to horror!

While horror movies can be enjoyed at any time of year, there is a certain appeal to treating oneself to a horror binge in the lead up to that spookiest of holidays: Halloween. If you too enjoy making a seasonal commitment to ramp up your horror movie viewing, you have a number... Read Full Blog

Spooky Stories at the Library

With Halloween just around the corner, Ames Public Library lends more spooky stories than usual.  Older children and teens love a good scare and will read books like Aaron Reynolds’ “Creepy Tales!” series, “The Jumbies” by Tracey Baptiste, or Katherine Arden’s “Small Spaces” series at any time of year. But books like Alvin Schwartz’ “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” are especially popular the closer we get to Halloween. 

Kids and teens love books that are scary, and the thrill in feeling the goosebumps on your arms or the shiver down your spine c... Read Full Blog

A Sense of the Season

Autumn, that greatest of all Iowa seasons, is finally upon us.  Winter and summer overbearing.  Spring’s dramatic thunderstorms and new blooms are over-celebrated by excitable poet-types.  Autumn arrives like a Midwesterner at a party, softly sidling in, refusing to interrupt, and only revealing its presence in a quiet moment with a chill in the air, a combine in the fields, or a red leaf on a maple.  Fall may not be desperate to be noticed, but is worth engaging your senses with it all the same.

I first felt autumn this year with my foot -... Read Full Blog

Try 12 To Try: APL’s Newest Reading Challenge!

I love browsing and scooping up a few new favorites in my go-to genres: romance, mystery, historical fiction, fantasy. I think everyone gravitates toward books we already know we’ll enjoy. But the library contains many different and amazing choices! This year, join the 12 To Try Reading Challenge for Adults to push the boundaries of your literary comfort zone.

Unlike our winter and summer reading programs, this challenge features 12 unique prompts to focus your year of reading. September’s challenge is to read fiction featuring LGBTQIA+ characters. You could cho... Read Full Blog

Speed Friending

It can be hard to make friends as an adult. Whether you are a recent graduate making your way in the world for the first time, someone who just moved to town, or just looking for new people to add to your circle, speed friending could be for you. It is a socializing, mingling event with a speed-dating-like set up but no dating or romance involved. If you are looking to meet new people and make friends, it is a great place to start.

If this sounds intriguing, come join us for a round of speed friend-matching and casual socializing at the Ames Public Library! We... Read Full Blog

High Seas Trending

As the teen librarian at Ames Public Library, I have the privilege to review and order books for the young adult section. In doing this I notice trends in the stories being shared and published. Some trends are almost always present, like a high school setting, the chosen one, or enemies to lovers. Other trends are more subtle.

One of the more subtle trends recently is the uptick in books featuring mermaids, pirates, or adventures in the high sea. It’s hard to know why this is a trend. It could be popular shows about pirates, a recently remade mermaid class... Read Full Blog

Dressing the (Literary) Part

Every year, the Ames Public Library Friends Foundation hosts Pub Fiction, the most literary pub crawl in Ames! Participants visit participating locations downtown, each with its own theme and exclusive drink special. Pub Fiction is on Thursday, August 10, with check-in between 5:30 and 6:30 at the Ames Public Library, and tickets can be purchased at the Library or online at bit.ly/PubFiction2023. All participants must be 21 or older.

All of the money raised by Pub Fiction goes to support the Ames Public Library Friends Foundation. The Friends support the li... Read Full Blog

RAGBRAI at 50

Next week, thousands of bicycles will roll through Ames as part of the historic 50th RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa—“Register” meaning the newspaper The Des Moines Register). RAGBRAI had a humble beginning—two Register reporters wanted to try biking across the state and thought it would be great if the Register picked up the tab! Now it is internationally renowned as the best weeklong bicycle tour (except perhaps the Tour de France). Iowa is uniquely suited for distance biking due to its extensive network of secondary paved roads that... Read Full Blog

Chillin’ with a Good Book

When I was a kid growing up in the 90s, we didn’t have air conditioning at home. Instead, during long, hot summer days, my sister and I joined our friends in activities meant to make us feel cooler.  We saw many matinees at the movie theater, spent hours hanging out at our library, and watched and read things meant to make us cold.  Kids can still do that during the summer with the Ames Public Library. Check out these cold and snowy books!

One of my absolute favorite picture books, “Big Snow” by Jonathan Bean is set while a young boy anxiously... Read Full Blog

E-Magazines for Days!

Electronic resources provide excellent library content that more and more people use each day. They are convenient on the go, as you can access them anywhere with the right apps and an internet connection to download or stream. One electronic resource format that is sometimes overlooked is e-magazines. We have thousands to choose from and they’re available any time!

One way to access e-magazines is the online catalog BRIDGES. To use BRIDGES, you can download the free app Libby on your tablet or smart phone. BRIDGES can also be accessed through the webpage ame... Read Full Blog