Whatever Happened to the Old Library

We get questions fairly regularly about the Old Central Library. What will happen to it? Well, according to the Des Moines Register, the building will become the "Norman E. Borlaug Hall of Laureates." TheWorld Food Prize organization has money coming in for restoration - a $5 million grant from Monsanto. So to those of you who worried that the Old Library would be torn down, never fear. The beautiful Minnesota-limestone building will once more be inhabited and put to good use.

Small Book Sales

The scope of our sales may be small, but the books can be huge! Were you aware that the Des Moines Public Library buildings have ongoing booksales? They don't have tons of offerings, but the items change all the time. So next time you stop in at your library look it over. All six buildings sell a variety of books, audio, video. Maybe you'll find your favorite magazine. Okay, it's 3 months old, but hey, it's a quarter!

Didn't know we had six buildings? Here they are:

Central Library 1000 Grand Avenue
East Side Library 2559 Hubbell Avenue
Forest Avenue Library 1326 Forest Avenue
Franklin Avenue Library 5000 Franklin Avenue
North Side Library 3516-5th Avenue
South Side Library 1111 Porter Avenue

So you thought the 50's were all about the Rock and Roll. Sure, in 1955 you had your "Rock Around the Clock". But these songs were also in the Top 25 that year:

Ballad of Davy Crockett by Bill Hayes
Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White by Perez Prado
Dance with me Henry (!) by Georgia Gibbs
The Crazy Otto Rag (!!) by Johnny Maddox
Sincerely by The McGuire Sisters

Maybe they had Easy Listening radio stations in the 50's, too.
The Great Song Thesaurus provided these nuggets.

Adventurous Adult Reading

Right Now! The Des Moines Public Library is running our annual Adult Reading Program. Stop in at any of our six locations and you'll get a fun string backpack just for signing up! Okay, while supplies last. Read whatever you like, fill out a form for each book. These forms put you in a drawing for prizes - $50 or $25 gift certificates! The program runs through March 29 so you have time to catch up on those books you've been dying to read. Or listen to. Love the audio books. Sign up, read, get prizes. Easy safe and fun.
For more information click here.

Is it Still Cold Out Here, or is it Just Me?

I know! Let's make ourselves feel better by going to one of the coldest places in America. Some of them are pretty close - Duluth MN, Grand Forks ND, Williston ND, and Fargo ND are among the Top Ten Coldest Places in the US, according to the book The Top Ten of Everything. The book skipped Alaska, but that's too far to go anyway. So saddle up, head to apparently anywhere in North Dakota, and discover how good we've got it.

Lunar Eclipse

Be sure to run outside in your jammies to catch tonight's lunar eclipse! OK, it won't be that late so bundle up and enjoy the last one until 2010.

Closed for Presidents' Day

Hello! We are closed today, but there is so much you can still do through our web site. Place reserves, find out about programs, wander around the Fun Facts. You can look up very old maps of Iowa towns through the Digital Sanborn Maps link! You can read an article about permanent markers in EbscoHost, check out upcoming programs in What’s Happening, all kinds of good stuff. But you still miss us, right? Have a great President’s Day!

Hey, Good Lookin'!

How about that brand new Des Moines Public Library Web site? Don't you love the gorgeous program graphics on the left of the screen? And they're not just ornamental. If you click on the graphic you want, your next stop is a page that provides more information on the program. Here's another tip for making the fullest use of the page: when you want to go directly to the catalog, one way is to click on the gray Search button to the right of the SEARCH OUR CATALOG box. Bonus!

Valentines and Votes

We all know it's Valentine's Day. But do we all know that it was on February 14th, 1920, that the League of Women Voters was born? The National American Woman Suffrage Association was meeting in Chicago and created the League because the ratification of the 19th amendment was a scarce few months away. They couldn't wait! So roses are red, on violets I dote, but what I really want is the right to vote.

Chase's Calendar of Events is the source of this information. Pick any day and you can discover when and why it's important.

President's Day

All locations of the Des Moines Public Library will be closed Presidents' Day, Monday February 18th.

Iowa's only President, Herbert Hoover, was blamed for the stock market crash of 1929 and the following Great Depression. But one of the accomplishments of his administration was the establishment of Veteran's Affairs in the federal government. Plus, as a bonus, the game of Hoover-Ball is named for him as he played it every morning. It was called Medicine Ball at the time, and involved throwing a 6 pound ball over a ten-foot high net. So he knew how to have fun. For more information on President Herbert Hoover, visit our online database Biography Resource Center.

Is it the Sun?

What's that bright thing in the sky! Aaaaaugh! My eyes! You think Des Moines had it bad in the gloomy department? The town of Viganella, Italy got no sunshine whatsoever until December 17, 2006 when 2 enormous mirrors were set on the surrounding mountainsides to reflect sun into the town. It worked! Who knew that little piece of glass that shows me if I'm brushing my teeth right could change lives.

This is all according to Ski Magazine Mar/Apr2007, Vol. 71 Issue 7, p. 25. The full article is available on EBSCO Host, an online database accessible through our home page. All you need is your library card number and you PIN, and this world of oh-so-interesting information is at your fingertips from your home computer.

Winter Water Sports

So did you see the picture in the Des Moines Register of the man in the kayak sliding down a snow-covered hill? Some people actually take their kayaks into Iowa rivers in the wintertime. But you can wait until it warms up. For information on where to kayak in Iowa, no matter what the weather, check out:
Paddling Iowa : 96 great trips by canoe and kayak / Nate Hoogeveen.

Warm Up With Local Recipes

Cookbooks! We have Des Moines Public Library Staff Cookbooks to sell for the pittance of $10. Recipes tried and found delicious by the staff and satisfied customers. So pop something in the oven and curl up with your favorite book and enjoy something hot and steamy. The food, I mean.

Today's Valentine Thought

Four be the things I'd been better without:
Love, curiosity, freckles and doubt.
-Dorothy Parker
Enough Rope, 1927