Blog Entries

Iowa Center for the Book Announces Selections for 2025 Roadmap to Reading

The Iowa Center for the Book is pleased to announce the two books that will represent Iowa’s rich, literary heritage at the National Book Festival in Washington, DC, on September 6, 2025.  

The Center for the Book (www.read.gov/cfb) in the Library of Congress works with its 56 Affiliate Centers for the Book (the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and Northern Marianas) to fulfill each Center’s mission of promoting literacy and the literary ar... Read Full Blog

Level Up Your Summer

Have an EPIC summer at the Library with free special activities and a reading challenge for all ages!

Everyone from babies to adults can earn prizes just for tracking their reading in Ames Public Library's Summer Reading Challenge. Pick up a game board, sign up at amespubliclibrary.beanstack.org, or download the Beanstack app to get started.

Once again this summer, children and teens can eat a nutritious free lunch at Ames Public Library. Free Summer Meals available weekdays (except July 4) from 11:30am-12:30pm. Thank you to Chevron Renewable Energy Group, Mary Greeley Medical C... Read Full Blog

Tools for School

Get homework help with the Library's free online resources, check out a Wi-Fi hotspot for Internet access, and use our space for quiet study time! 

Your Library card gets you free access to premium online resource, like Brainfuse Homework Help, Britannica Library, and many more to help students reach their educational goals. Best of all, they're available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!

You the library also lends many helpful resources, from books to Wi-Fi hotspots to STEM learning kits. All you need is a Library card.

Library staff are happy to help you find... Read Full Blog

New Carpet Coming

by Sheila Schofer

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

Great Reads Authors coming to Ames and Zoom

The authors of Iowa's 2024 selections for Great Reads from Great Places are coming to Iowa! 

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Join Swine Republic author, Chris Jones, for an author talk and book signing Wednesday, October 30, at 7pm. The event at Ames Public Library will be livestreamed on Zoom. 

The Swine Republic: Struggles With the Truth About Agriculture and Water Quality is Iowa's 2024 selection for adults for Great Reads from Great Places and an unexpected hit across Iowa. 

Jones, a retired University of Iowa researcher, writes for a popular ... Read Full Blog

Library of Congress National Book Festival Announces Full Author Lineup for 2024

Library of Congress National Book Festival Announces Full Author Lineup
Main Stage to Feature Sandra Cisneros, James S.A. Corey, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Max Greenfield, Tamron Hall, Abby Jimenez, Casey McQuiston, James McBride, James Patterson, Lish Steiling and Rebecca Yarros

The festival’s theme this year, “Books Build Us Up,” explores how reading can help connect us and inform our lives. It’s through books that readers can develop strong bonds with writers and their ideas — relationships that open the entire world, real or imagined, to us all.

Throughout ... Read Full Blog

New Play Space!

Come see the new play space on Ames Public Library's first floor!

Young children can practice their motor skills, while older children can exercise their imaginations with a play kitchen and more.

Thank you to the Ames Public Library Friends Foundation who helped support the Library’s new play structure!

... Read Full Blog

Ames Public Library Becomes the Iowa Affiliate for Library of Congress Center for the Book

Ames Public Library is honored to announce its new designation as the Library of Congress Center for the Book Iowa Affiliate.

The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress is a community of 56 Affiliated Centers, promoting reading, libraries and literacy through the Library of Congress and its Affiliated Centers across the country. These Centers also elevate and advocate for their state’s unique literary heritage. There is an Affiliate Center for the Book in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and Norther... Read Full Blog

Ames Public Library + RAYGUN

RAYGUN and the Ames Public Library Friends Foundation are teaming up to bring you the greatest Ames Public Library shirts in the universe!

Now you can buy locally-printed, library-themed shirts for yourself, friends, and family with 40% of the price benefiting Ames Public Library. Now that’s what we call the perfect gift!

Check it out at bit.ly/RaygunAPL

... Read Full Blog

Damaged Book? Leave the repair to us!

Rips, spills, and unglued spines happen. Luckily, we have an expert mender on staff with all the tools to give our items another chance at life.

If you find any damage on a Library item, please don't attempt to fix it yourself! Take it to a Library staff member so our specialist can mend it and get it back in circulation. 

... Read Full Blog

Tools for School

Did you know...
Ames Community School District students get a FREE Ames Public Library account through their school!

Use your account all year long for access to books, Wi-Fi hotspots, online tools, STEM Kits, and much more!

Get ready for school with these great online tools for free using your Ames Public Library card:

Brainfuse: Live online tutoring, Writing lab, Test preparation, Language lab Britannica Library: Age-appropriate articles, videos, and biographies for children and teens BookFlix: Read-aloud stories, nonfictio... Read Full Blog

Free Lunch for Kids and Teens

Ames Public Library is once again offering free lunch for kids and teens this summer! 

Families are invited to Free Summer Meals for Kids and Teens weekdays from 11:30am-12:30pm in the Library's Auditorium.

Lunch is free to all youth 18 years and younger; meals for adults accompanying youth are $3.50. (Sorry, no baby formula is available.)

 

Thank you to the Ames Public Library Friends Foundation for sponsoring Free Summer Meals for Kids and Teens!

... Read Full Blog

Summer is Coming

Join Ames Public Library for free special activities and a reading challenge for all ages this summer!

Everyone from babies to adults can earn prizes just for tracking their reading in the Summer Reading Challenge. Pick up a game board or sign up online starting June 1.

Once again this summer, children and teens can eat a nutritious free lunch at Ames Public Library. Lunch is available weekdays form Monday, June 5, through Friday, August 18 (except July 4).

Check the Library's calendar for free events including: Book clubs, meetups, and presentations for a... Read Full Blog

Calling local Iowa authors!

It’s almost time for Ames Public Library’s Author Fair! Join us for any portion of the program, or enjoy the entire time.

Saturday, March 25, 2023 at Ames Public Library

Presentation
Make Sense of Writing

1-2pm, Rotary Room 

Presented by Michaeljulius Idani, University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Science Postgraduate Visiting Writer in Fiction and Visiting Assistant Professor
 

Book Sales and Signing

2:15-4:15pm, Library Auditorium

Readers are welcome to drop in, chat with authors, purchase books,... Read Full Blog

Winter Reading Challenge

This year's winter reading challenge is already in full swing. If you haven't signed up yet, no is the time! All ages can join the Winter Reading Challenge, from adults to babies.

To participate, just read 30 days before the end of January. It doesn't matter what you read or how long you read—just read! Track your days online at amespubliclibrary.beanstack.org or pick up a paper reading challenge at the Library or Bookmobile.

Once you're done, you can pick up your free prize (courtesy of Ames Public Library Friends Foundation) at the Library or Bookmobile!

... Read Full Blog