Blog Entries

National Plan for Vacation Day

If you earn vacation days at your job, think back to how many vacation days you took in 2024. Any chance you left some of those unused? If so, let 2025 be the year that you use every single bit of your earned vacation.

Americans leave about 600 million collective vacation hours unused each year. It’s time to chip away at that number, so today we celebrate National Plan for Vacation Day. At Ames Public Library we offer books, magazines and DVDs that might inspire your next vacation. Even if you’re planning a stay-cation, you can stock up on everything you need to chil... Read Full Blog

The Wonder of Wonderbooks

If you are looking to stay inside, cozy up with a good book, and want to get the whole family involved, check out our Wonderbooks and VOX Books!  Wonderbooks and Vox Books provide a great opportunity for everyone of any age to be able to engage with reading. 

If you have never seen or checked out one of these books, they are printed books that come with a charged audio player inside the front cover that allows you to have the book read aloud as you flip through the pages. It is a physical book and an audiobook all in one! These books can be especially useful f... Read Full Blog

Start the Semester Right

It’s a new semester, with the chance to start on the right foot! Ames Public Library is here to support students, parents, and teachers with a wide variety of resources.

If homework is hard at home because you don’t have internet, you can request a Wi-Fi hotspot to check out from the Library. We have a limited number available, so there will usually be wait. Try to get on the list early!

If you have internet access, Ames Public Library has some fantastic online resources available 24/7. They have the types of tools and articles you’d usually have to pay for, but ... Read Full Blog

Digital Media Grows in Popularity

The turning of the year is an invitation to consider continuity and change. What’s trending? What’s over? What’s next? At the Ames Public Library, we’re thinking not just about the latest titles going viral on social media, but also about which formats you are reading them in. 

In 2024, Ames residents borrowed 133,625 e-books and e-audiobooks from the library’s two digital media apps, Libby and Hoopla, a 14% increase over 2023. The Ames Public Library (APL) is able to provide access to these apps thanks to your funding as taxpayers, your generosity as donors, and t... Read Full Blog

All the things you can do from home

During winter I would prefer to snuggle up under a blanket at home and leave as few times as possible until it is spring. If you are like me and would like to therefore see what the library has to offer to your wintering self, let’s hop onto the Library’s website and apps and explore. 

You can stream and download a wide variety of titles in e-book and e-audiobook as well as a selection of magazines, movies, tv shows, music, comics and more through the library’s apps Libby, Hoopla, Kanopy, and Comics Plus. When you login to Libby, scroll down to recommendations rel... Read Full Blog

Winter Reading Challenge

To the average Iowan, winter brings with it a few challenges. Snow, ice, impressive windchills…the list goes on. Would you like a challenge to actually look forward to this winter? Look no further than the Ames Public Library! 

This winter we have a fun winter reading challenge going on. Hunker down under a blanket at home, find a cozy chair at the library, or even over a lunch break—wherever or whenever you find yourself with a free moment, pull out a good book, ebook, or eaudiobook and spend some time reading to earn pretty neat prizes! 

All ag... Read Full Blog

New Carpet Coming

As a homeowner of an older house here in Ames, I have appreciation for the ongoing upkeep it takes to keep a space in good repair. You put time and care into maintaining the places that hold meaning and importance to you.

The same is true on a broader community level. The library is one such place that our community consistently expresses their value and appreciation for.  The Ames Public Library turned 120 years old this fall and through the years, generations of residents, elected officials, and library trustees, employees and volunteers have continued to ... 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

What an IDEA!

As December approaches, the time has come to celebrate a very special anniversary: the opening of the Ames Public Library’s IDEA Center! 

Haven’t heard of it? Well, the upcoming anniversary provides an excellent opportunity to review what makes the IDEA Center special.

Let’s start with the name. The “IDEA” in IDEA Center stands for Inspire, Design, Explore, Archive, which gives you a sense for how you can use the space. 

Within the IDEA Center, you have access to a wide range of technologies that enable you to undertake a similarly wide range of task... Read Full Blog

Take A Road Trip with an Audiobook!

There’s nothing quite like sharing the road trip with your loved ones! But to help pass the time, you need something to focus on while you drive. Audiobooks offer hands free entertainment that keeps everybody in the car entertained and keeps the driver safe. 

Road trips are also opportunities for unforgettable shared literary experiences. I can still vividly remember books I’ve listened to on road trips from years past, who I listened to them with, and where we went together. 

I recall a beautiful summer drive across South Dakota my wife and I took as a ne... Read Full Blog

A Visit from The Nutcracker

“The Nutcracker Ballet” is coming to CY Stephens Auditorium on December 14 and 15, 2024, but you can get a sneak peak with excerpts from the performance at Ames Public Library on Saturday, November 23, 2024 at 10:30am. The performance will be followed by an opportunity from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach to use your engineering and artistic skills in a Nutcracker design challenge using LEGO® or other materials. In addition, attendees will be entered into a drawing for free tickets to see “The Nutcracker” at Stephens Auditorium courtesy of Iowa State Center.

“When My Husband Ran for President…”

If you’ve lived in Iowa for any amount of time you probably know the last name Harkin. When you hear it, you probably think of Tom Harkin, long-time Senator from Iowa. Did you know that it was his wife, Ruth, who was the first in their family to run for office? She not only ran for, but won, the seat of Story County attorney in 1973, making her one of the first female prosecutors elected in the United States.

Ames Public Library, the Iowa Center for the Book, the Ames Writers Collective, and KHOI Community Radio are thrilled to host Ruth Harkin in pre... Read Full Blog

Building Bridges Through Culture and Connection

The Ames Public Library is fostering intercultural understanding and friendships through two upcoming events: the International Friendship Fair and the International Community Meetup.
 

International Friendship Fair

Date: Saturday, November 9, 2024 Time: 10:00am - 12:00pm Location: Ames Public Library Auditorium

The International Friendship Fair promises to be a vibrant celebration of cultural diversity, providing an opportunity for participants to immerse themselves in the global tapestry of Ames' international community... Read Full Blog

Lost and Found

It is not usually a pleasant task to clean my workspace, digging through the detritus of recent projects, notes from decades-old committee work and only then down to the worktop.  This time, however, I made an interesting discovery.  Tucked in a moldering folder in the back of a hand-me-down file cabinet were the papers of my predecessor’s predecessor, including an unpublished draft intended for this very column.  Thinking that this discovery would be of interest to readers (of the Ames Tribune and of books alike) here is the work of librarian Karel ... Read Full Blog

Iowa Center for the Book

Did you know that the Ames Public Library has a national distinction? As of April of this year, the library began serving as the Iowa Center for the Book. Each U.S. state and territory hosts a Center for the Book, which serves as an affiliate of the Library of Congress and promotes literacy and reading in their state. The Centers for the Book are also tasked with promoting their own state’s literary heritage; One way that is done is through the Great Reads from Great Places program, for which each Center selects an adult title and a youth title to represent their state.

For 2024, ... Read Full Blog