About Us

The Urbandale Public Library is committed to providing diverse resources for life-long learning and enjoyment.

Urbandale Library Strategic Plan 2022-2026

2025 UPL Wrapped

The Urbandale Public Library is owned by the City of Urbandale and governed by a seven-member Board of Trustees. We serve not only the residents of Urbandale, but the surrounding Des Moines metro area as well as contracting cities within the state of Iowa.

The Urbandale Public Library has been part of the City of Urbandale since 1961. As our city has grown, so has the demand for our services – so much so, that over the years, the Library has called four different locations around the city home. Since 2000, you can find us nestled within the beautiful City of Urbandale campus, bordered by Walker Johnston Park.

Our current 56,000 square-foot building houses a variety of print and non-print materials for research and entertainment. Besides our vast collection, the Library is also a key resource for groups, small businesses, and individuals who need access to computers, photocopiers, meeting rooms, and study areas. Our extensive programming informs, educates, and entertains audiences of all ages and interests. In 2023, we drew in over 195,000 visitors (an average of about 530 people a day!) and offered nearly 700 programs for children, teens, and adults, with more than 21,000 attendees. 

• Monday – Thursday: 9:00 am – 8:30 pm
• Friday – Saturday:  9:00 am – 6:00 pm
• Sunday: 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm

The Library is governed by a seven-member Board of Trustees who generously volunteer their time and talents to further the Library’s mission. Trustees are appointed to a six-year term by the Mayor with the approval of the City Council. Meetings of the Board of Trustees are open to the public and are held in the Library’s Conference Room.

Residents of Urbandale interested in serving on the Board of Trustees must submit an application. The application is available on the City of Urbandale’s website.

Access contact information here.

Urbandale Public Library Board of Trustees ByLaws

List of Upcoming Board of Trustee Meetings

Meeting Minutes

2025 Annual Appeal Letter

Financial donations can be made online, dropped off, or mailed to the library.

PayPal - Donate

If mailing or dropping off your contribution, please complete this form and enclose it with your donation so we can thank you! Forms are also available at the Library.

Urbandale Public Library Foundation, Inc.
3520 86th Street
Urbandale, IA 50322

The Foundation is a tax-free entity, so all contributions are tax-deductible. Memorial contributions can also be made to the Urbandale Public Library Foundation. All memorials are posted in the lobby with the name of the person you are honoring and the donor’s name. Books, trees, benches, and special collections are all examples of how memorial contributions have been used in the past.

If you would like to discuss your donation with someone, please call the Library Director at 515-278-3945.

The Urbandale Public Library Foundation, Inc. was created in 1988 to handle donations to further the growth of the Urbandale Public Library. Meetings are held quarterly on the fourth Monday of the month at the Library, 3520 86th Street.

Foundation Members

Click Here to Buy a Shirt!

Buy a t-shirt to show your support for the library! A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the UPL Foundation.

Please see our policies

• Nicholas Janning, Library Director – njanning@urbandale.org
• Leslie Noble, Assistant Director & Technical Services Manager – lnoble@urbandale.org
• Staci Stanton, Programming & Outreach Manager – sstanton@urbandale.org
• Julie Finch, Patron Experiences Manager – jfinch@urbandale.org
• Jacqueline Stolz, Youth Programming & Outreach Specialist – jstolz@urbandale.org
• Leah Cummings, Meeting Room & Library Volunteer Coordinator – librarymeetingrooms@urbandale.org
• Lydia Ponder, Interlibrary Loan & Home Delivery – lponder@urbandale.org

Thank you for your interest in employment with the Urbandale Public Library. Here are our current openings:

Summer 2026 Library Youth Services Internship 

$16.50-18.50 hourly | Part-Time Intern (~24 hours per week on average) 

Apply Here! (Deadline March 1)

City of Urbandale Employment Opportunities

– The City of Urbandale is an Equal Opportunity Employer –

Subscribe to Library Newsletters

There’s always something happening at the Urbandale Public Library! Stay in the loop and subscribe to one of our Newsletter topics: 

Project Overview

To ensure the library remains functional, welcoming, and relevant for years to come, the Library Board of Trustees began gathering feedback from the community in 2021. A public survey was conducted that year and in 2023 the library hired a space consultant to assess how our interior could better serve patrons.

Community feedback continued throughout strategic planning for the Library’s 2022–2026 Strategic Plan, with more than 1,400 comments from residents helping us understand how the library is being used and what the community needs from its library.

Key feedback included:

• A strong demand for more places to work, including individual study spaces, small group areas, and larger meeting rooms.
• A desire for a more modern and imaginative children’s area.
• A more welcoming and functional space for teens. 

The Library Board and Foundation committed $650,000 to the project to create a more functional and engaging experience for staff and patrons. In early 2025, the library hired OPN Architects to develop renovation plans, oversee interior remodeling, and coordinate new furniture and design improvements. 

The remodeling work is tentatively scheduled for early March with project completion scheduled for June 30. Throughout the project, our goal is to minimize disruption to library services as much as possible. More details about temporary furniture shifts, construction phases, and any service changes will be shared as the project progresses.

The interior redesign will deliver several exciting enhancements: 

• Additional individual study rooms (2) and group study rooms (4)
• Children's area with updated furniture and layout
• Welcoming teen area with better seating and functionality
• "Marketplace" area near main entrance with flexible displays and seating
• Enclosed Reading Room
• Additional seating in non-fiction
• Streamlined customer service desks to improve staff workflow and patron service
• Updates to physical collections, including the elimination of music CDs and reducing audiobook CDs

New furniture and improved layout for children's and teen area Enclose the reading room to create a quieter, more defined space
Add two individual and four group study rooms Add additional seating and improved layout of the adult  non-fiction area
Add a "Marketplace" in main entry lobby for high-interest displays and seating
Install new customer service desks to improve staff workflow and create more usable space for patrons