Name: Winter Reading Challenge
Start: 2022-12-01
End: 2023-01-31
Location: Ames Public Library

Teen Space

Did you know there's a room in the Library just for teens? Hang out, play some games, or do some reading in the Teen Space.

The Teen Space is open:
Monday-Thursday: 4-8pm
Friday: 4-6pm
Saturday: 1-6pm
Sunday: 1-5

Teen Advisory Group

The Teen Advisory Group (TAG) helps the Library plan programs for teens and pick out books for teens.

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Need some book recommendations?

Fill out our Personalized Picks online form to tell us about what you want to read. Our experts will put together a custom book list based on your responses and e-mail it to you!

Upcoming Teen Events

Winter Reading Challenge

All Day 12/1 - 1/31

Library Branch: Ames Public Library

Room: Ames Public Library

Age Group: Family, Teens, Adults

Program Type: Reading Incentive Program

Program Details:

All ages can earn a prize by reading 30 days this winter! Pick up your reading log at the Library or Bookmobile, starting December 1 or sign up online at amespubliclibrary.beanstack.com. Want to print your own reading log? Download ...

^{Ames Public Library connects you to the world of ideas through diverse and inclusive resources and programs. We welcome proposals via our website for programs at www.amespubliclibrary.org/programproposal and exhibits at https://www.amespubliclibrary.org/exhibit-proposal.}

Memory Project: Ukraine

All Day 12/2 - 12/20

Library Branch: Ames Public Library

Room: Vestibule

Age Group: Family, Teens, Adults

Program Type: Arts/Crafts

Program Details:

Come see portraits created by Ames High School art students for this year's Memory Project. Ukrainian refugees living in Poland gathered photos of Ukrainian children ranging from ages 1-18. Ames High School art students used the photos to crea...

Movies with Mainstream

10:00am - 1:00pm

Library Branch: Ames Public Library

Room: Farwell T. Brown Auditorium

Age Group: Family, Teens, Adults

Program Type: Movie

Program Details:

Join the Mainstream Living community for a monthly movie screening and related activity! Selected movies are appropriate for adults who are neurodivergent and/or have an intellectual disability. Movies with Mainstream is open to patrons o...

Teen Videogames

4:00pm - 6:00pm

Library Branch: Ames Public Library

Room: Teen Space

Age Group: Teens

Program Type: Meetup

Program Details:

Need a brain break? Teens are invited to hang out and play videogames in the Teen Space! A virtual reality system will be available to try out too. ...

The Bridge Home

4:00pm - 7:00pm

Library Branch: Ames Public Library

Room: Lisa Fawcett Nilsson Study Room - 2nd Floor

Age Group: Teens, Adults

Program Type: Special Event

Program Details:

Ames Public Library is partnering with The Bridge Home to provide easy access to critical services. Staff from The Bridge Home will be available in the Library to assist individuals and families on the verge of—or experiencing—homelessnes...

The Bridge Home

11:00am - 2:00pm

Library Branch: Ames Public Library

Room: Lisa Fawcett Nilsson Study Room - 2nd Floor

Age Group: Teens, Adults

Program Type: Special Event

Program Details:

Express Yourself

1:00pm - 3:00pm

Library Branch: Ames Public Library

Room: Farwell T. Brown Auditorium

Age Group: Family, Teens

Program Type: Arts/Crafts, Special Event, Storytime

Program Details:

All ages are invited to use creativity and imagination to express themselves in movement, dress, and art. Library staff will lead storytime, and various craft, face painting, and learning activities will be available for kids to transform themselve...

IowaWORKS at the Library

9:30am - 12:30pm

Library Branch: Ames Public Library

Room: The Studio

Age Group: Teens, Adults

Program Type: Special Event

Program Details:

Ames Public Library is partnering with IowaWORKS to provide easy access to critical services in our community. Come by to speak with an IowaWORKS Career Planner for individualized, one-on-one career services. Career Planners can assist...

IowaWORKS at the Library

1:30pm - 3:30pm

Library Branch: Ames Public Library

Room: The Studio

Age Group: Teens, Adults

Program Type: Special Event

Program Details:

Stream & Download

BookFlix

This engaging resource for children in grades PreK–3 will help early readers develop and practice essential reading skills, and introduces them to a world of knowledge and exploration.

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Bridges

Browse, borrow, and enjoy e-audiobooks, e-books, and videos on your computer or tablet.

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ComicsPlus

ComicsPlus offers unlimited, simultaneous access to thousands of digital comics, graphic novels, and manga from 100+ publishers without wait lists or monthly limits.

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Hoopla

Download e-audiobooks, graphic novels, e-books, movies, music, and television, all with no holds queue.

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Kanopy

Stream or download over 30,000 of the world’s best films, including award-winning documentaries, rare and hard-to-find titles, film festival favorites, indie and classic films, and world cinema.

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Online Learning Tools

ABC Mouse

Check out ABC Mouse for award-winning educational games, puzzles, books and other fun interactive learning activities for kids age 2 to 6. It’s free to use in the Ames Public Library! In Library Use Only

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America's News/Ames Tribune from NewsBank

Search local job fairs, companies in the news, state and national business, economic and employment trends. Find diverse perspectives on topics related to job searching, consumer spending and the housing market. Updated daily.

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BookFlix

This engaging resource for children in grades PreK–3 will help early readers develop and practice essential reading skills, and introduces them to a world of knowledge and exploration.

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Brainfuse Help Now

Stuck on a tough homework assignment? Looking for test prep resources? Brainfuse offers virtual live tutoring, a 24-hour writing assignment review, study groups, flashcards, and can even help create a study plan. Find test prep for college entrance exams and ASVAB. Adult learners will find tutoring and study guides just for adults, as well as computer training courses, and study guides for the U.S. Citizenship Test, TABE, TOEFL, GED, and more.

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Britannica Library

Conduct research, complete school assignments, work on special projects, or explore your interests. Britannica Library includes special sections for children, young adults, and adults.

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ComicsPlus

ComicsPlus offers unlimited, simultaneous access to thousands of digital comics, graphic novels, and manga from 100+ publishers without wait lists or monthly limits.

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Gale General OneFile

Access general interest magazines and key serials in a single resource. Best for general research.

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Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints

Find overviews, news, and opinions on hundreds of today's important social issues.

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GCF LearnFree

If you need a quick brush up on your Microsoft Office or other technology skills GCF LearnFree is the place to start. Check out their more than 125 self-paced tutorials for math, career, reading, every day life skills, and more.

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Khan Academy

Khan Academy's mission is to provide free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere, and they’ve partnered with institutions like NASA and the Museum of Modern Art to do so. Create an account and you'll have access to videos, exercises, and your own learning dashboard as you study at your own pace.

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Little Pim

Little Pim is the fun, easy way for kids ages 0-6 to learn a new language. Come explore with Little Pim, the adorable cartoon panda, as you discover a new language!

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Mango Languages

Powered by intelligent technology and an adaptive algorithm, Mango empowers you to communicate with confidence, preparing you for uncharted experiences with language and culture. Challenge yourself to discover something new. Start the conversation.

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Mometrix eLibrary

Mometrix eLibrary delivers the most comprehensive list of study guides and practice questions on the market, all at your fingertips, anywhere, anytime you have an internet connection.

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Novelist Plus

NoveList is a fiction database that provides subject heading access, reviews, annotations, and much more for over 120,000 fiction titles. It also includes other content of interest to fiction readers, such as Author Read-alikes, Book Discussion Guides, BookTalks, and Feature Articles.

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TumbleBookLibrary

Want a fun, 21st century alternative to print picture books? TumbleBookLibrary has a great interactive collection of stories with sound, music, animation, and narration. Have your favorite book read as you follow along and enjoy the story. Be sure to check out their book of the day!

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WorldCat Discovery

WorldCat connects you to the collections and services of more than 10,000 libraries worldwide.

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Teen Rainbow Books

What If Someone I Know Is Gay?

Eric Marcus

Offers answers to questions young readers might ask about gay people, whether those questions concern a friend, a family member, or themselves.
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Beautiful Music for Ugly Children

Kirstin Cronn-Mills

The award-winning author of The Sky Always Hears Me and the Hills Don't Mind presents the story of teen DJ Gabe, a transgendered youth who knows himself to be a boy trapped in a girl's body and whose efforts to gain acceptance are threatened by a violent gang of bullies. Original.
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Who's That Girl

Blair Thornburgh

This laugh-out-loud debut is filled with hilarious awkward encounters, a supportive LGBTQ organization, and too many cheesy lyrics to count—all with the compulsive readability of Audrey, Wait! and Boy Meets Boy. Junior Nattie McCullough has always been that under-the-radar straight girl who hangs out in the cafeteria with her gay-straight alliance friends. She’s never been the girl that gets the guy, let alone the girl that gets a hit song named after her.
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The Porcupine of Truth

Bill Konigsberg

Spending his summer in Billings, Montana, to help care for the dying alcoholic father he never knew, Carson Smith meets a beautiful runaway and a pastor who holds a secret about Carson's long-missing grandfather. By the award-winning author of Out of the Pocket. Simultaneous eBook.
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The Letter Q

Sarah Moon, James Lecesne

Collects letters from such famous contributors as Brian Selznick, Michael Cunningham, and Amy Bloom to offer hope and support in the face of prejudice.
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The Prince and the Dressmaker

Jen Wang

Prince Sebastian has a secret. At night he puts on daring dresses and takes Paris by storm as the fabulous Lady Crystallia. Sebastian's secret weapon (and best friend) is the brilliant dressmaker Frances. But how long can Frances defer her dreams to protect a friend?
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Lizard Radio

Pat Schmatz

Fifteen-year-old bender Kivali has had a rough time in a gender-rigid culture. Abandoned as a baby and raised by Sheila, an ardent nonconformist, Kivali has always been surrounded by uncertainty. Where did she come from? Is it true what Sheila says, that she was deposited on Earth by the mysterious saurians? Now she's in CropCamp, with all of its schedules and regs, and the first real friends she's ever had. Strange occurrences and complicated relationships raise questions Kivali has never before had to consider.
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The Inexplicable Logic of My Life

Benjamin Alire Saenz

"A story set on the American border with Mexico, about family and friendship, life and death, and one teen struggling to understand what his adoption does and doesn't mean about who he is"--
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Love Dares You

Christos Gage, Rebekah Isaacs, Joss Whedon

"This volume reprints the comic-book series Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 10, #11-15, from Dark Horse Comics"--Title page verso.
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Brazen

Pnlope Bagieu

With her characteristic wit and dazzling drawings, celebrated graphic novelist Penelope Bagieu profiles the lives of these feisty female role models, some world famous, some little known. From Nellie Bly to Mae Jemison or Josephine Baker to Naziq al-Abid, the stories in this comic biography are sure to inspire the next generation of rebel ladies.
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