In today’s episode, we sat down with Jean Fajen, President of the West Des Moines Library Friends Foundation Board. Jean talked with us about her tenure as Board President, the impact that the Friends have on the library, and how patrons can become Friends of the library. Become a Friend by visiting wdmlibrary.org/friends.

In today’s episode, we sat down with Jen Ohzourk, the Head of Adult Services here at the library. She shared how she and her team come up with fun events for adult patrons and gave us a little sneak peek into what we can look forward to in 2022. See our full and updated event calendar here: www.wdmlibrary.org/events

In today’s episode, we sat down with New York Times Bestselling Author Tracey Garvis Graves! Tracey recently celebrated the ten-year anniversary of her breakout hit debut novel, On The Island, and her latest book, Heard It in a Love Song, released from St. Martin’s press on November 9. 

In today’s episode, we sat down with our Head of Collection Services, Ann Renken, to learn more about the care and upkeep of library materials. We also sat down with Meetu Sharma, one of our Circulation Clerks who is also Yoga Alliance Certified, about the care and upkeep of YOU. She focused on some simple mindfulness and yoga techniques that we can all use in our every day lives. Meetu will be hosting a Beginners Yoga and Mindfulness four-week program starting on Saturday, November 27th. 

In today’s episode, we sat down with a handful of people to highlight a new program being offered here at the library: Tech Help with Teens - a program designed to pair trained teen technicians with library patrons who have specific questions about technology. This program was created by its supervisor, Jodi Tschudin, and is sponsored by the City of West Des Moines, Youth Justice Initiative, United Way, Microsoft and Google Fiber. I was able to chat with Jodi, five of the teens who are currently participating in the program, and Jennifer Hahn, the Director of Youth Justice Initiative. 

In today’s episode, we sat down with award-winning picture book author Lydia M. Sigwarth. Lydia’s book, Dear Librarian, offers a moving true story about a child experiencing homelessness who finds a safe haven in her local library.  We are so honored that Lydia will be joining us here at the West Des Moines Public Library on Monday, October 25 for a storytime and book signing! She will be here from 10:30 – 11:30 AM that morning.

This week on In This Day and Page, we are talking with author Jay Kasperbauer who spoke at a recent WDM Library Friends Foundation event. His debut novel, Perlie, follows Perlie, a scrutinized convict struggling with identity and reestablishment after a brief prison sentence. 

This week on In This Day and Page, we are talking with Kate Thompson, Adult Services Assistant, about her research around library programming for Autistic children and teens. Additionally, she will present at the Iowa Library Association conference on how to increase accessibility in the library for Neurodivergent adults. 

This week on In This Day and Page, we are talking with Nate Huber, Youth Services Assistant at the West Des Moines Public Library, about the library's new Kids Graphic Novel Club Read that he will be starting. The first club meeting will be on September 23 from 4:15 - 5:00 PM and the group will be reading New Kid by Jerry Craft. 

This week on In This Day and Page, we are talking with the new podcast host, Maggie Martin who is the Information Coordinator at the West Des Moines Public Library about her vision for the podcast moving forward. She'll also chat about her two published Young Adult novels and the writing process!