All Urbandale Reads
2025 Selection: The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton
Pick up one of our many copies available in multiple formats including ebooks and audiobooks. Find them in our catalog here.
Community Book Discussions
- Wednesday, May 28, 1:00 PM: Book Discussion
- Thursday, September 4, 6:00 PM: Living with Nature - Being Coyote Aware In and Out of the City
- Tuesday, September 9, 6:00 PM: Book Discussion
- Tuesday, September 16, 6:00 PM: Forecasting the Future - Climate Change Through the Lens of The Light Pirate
Attend any book discussion or program to be entered in a prize drawing for a gift card from Zellaphant Books!
Resources
Climate Mental Health Network - Research shows that grief is one of the most common climate emotions. Our society tends to suppress grief and its expressions. But properly honoring and integrating grief helps us connect with others, with the earth as a whole, and to more fully experience a healthy range of emotions, including joy. These resources are informed by the research of Panu Pihkala.
Iowa Environmental Council - Get involved and take action in the state of Iowa.
About the All Urbandale Reads Program
All Urbandale Reads is a “one book, one community” reading initiative that encourages all Urbandale citizens to read and discuss the same book. The goal of All Urbandale Reads is to unite the community and promote literacy through one inspiring read. All Urbandale Reads programming features book discussions and a program or two related to themes found in the selected book.
How is the All Urbandale Reads book selected?
Library staff review a variety of critically acclaimed books based on their themes, readability, and the opportunities for related programs each book may present. A selection committee made up of the library staff and various representatives from around the community read and review a list of finalists based on this same criteria and make a final selection.
Past All Urbandale Reads books:
- “The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah (2024)
- “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot (2023)
- “This Tender Land” by William Kent Krueger (2022)
- “When the Emperor Was Divine” by Julie Otsuka (2021)
- “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien (2020)
- “The Story of Arthur Truluv” by Elizabeth Berg (2019)
- “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” by Betty Smith (2018)
All Urbandale Reads reading material and programming funded by the Urbandale Public Library Foundation.