Home

Limited services

Current hours

Monday to Saturday: 10am - 6pm

Returning items

All book drops are open.

Please allow 4-5 days for returned items to be removed from your account.

No late fines will be charged.

Borrowing items

Borrow items with Lobby Grab & Go or mail delivery. Place a hold in the catalog or by phone to get started.

Read more Holds FAQs

Other questions? Learn more from our Library Closure FAQ

COVID-19 Resources

Need help? Here’s where to find it.

Featured Collections

​
Black helicopters
​
Skeleton crew
​
The deep
​
Full throttle : stories
​
Aftertime
​
Monster Hunter Alpha
​
The Institute : a novel
​
Robert Kirkman's The walking dead : descent
​
The road to Woodbury
​
Dog blood
​
One of us will be dead by morning
​
Haunted : a novel of stories
​
The ape's wife and other stories
​
Burnt offerings
​
The year's best dark fantasy and horror
​
Zone one
​
The king in yellow
​
Nightshade
​
Alone with the horrors : the great short fiction of Ramsey Campbell, 1961-1991
​
Rise : the complete Newsflesh collection
​
Heart-shaped box
​
Creatures of the night
​
Black house
​
I am not a serial killer
​
The last American vampire
​
The fifth doll
​
Ticktock
​
Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead. Typhoon : a novel
​
Wonderland
​
Red moon : a novel
​
The sorceress
​
The deepest roots
​
Princess of glass
​
The glass magician
​
Spellcaster
​
Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban
​
These rebel waves
​
Queens of Fennbirn
​
Wayward son
​
Keys to the Demon Prison
​
Sea witch rising
​
Witchtown
​
Heart of flames
​
Melting stones
​
The Last Dragonslayer
​
The Merlin conspiracy
​
M is for magic
​
Gathering darkness : a Falling kingdoms novel
​
Shatterglass
​
Hunted by the sky
​
Ghosts of the shadow market
​
Eon : Dragoneye reborn
​
Lovely War
​
Thirst. No. 2
​
Tiger's curse
​
Endless water, starless sky
​
Artemis Fowl. The last guardian
​
Rule
​
Rise of the wolf
​
Beautiful darkness
​
Happy Halloween, Mittens
​
Mitchell on the moon
​
Fright night flight
​
Halloween pie
​
Haunted party
​
The house that Drac built
​
Vunce upon a time
​
The haunted hot rod
​
Druscilla's Halloween
​
Teeny tiny halloween.
​
Ollie's Halloween
​
Garfield. Holiday celebrations
​
The witch casts a spell
​
Omar's Halloween
​
Ladybug Girl and the dress-up dilemma
​
Diego's Halloween
​
Vampire boy's good night
​
Turtle and Snake's spooky Halloween
​
Inside a house that is haunted : a rebus read-along story
​
A magical Halloween adventure
​
Pumpkin Hill
​
Power rangers. Trickster treat
​
On Halloween night
​
Five silly ghosts
​
Halloween crafts
​
Behind the mask
​
Big pumpkin

Check out our Digital Library

We might be closed but our Digital Library is still open! Check it out 24/7.

Read

OverDrive Ebooks RBdigital Magazines Flipster The New York Times

Watch

Kanopy Movies The Library Channel

Listen

OverDrive Audiobooks Local Music Project The Library Channel Interviews

Explore

Online Resources Digital History Project Consumer Reports Mango Languages Historical Iowa City Newspapers Ancestry

Kids

OverDrive Kids Ebooks OverDrive Kids Audiobooks Tumblebooks Kanopy Kids Little Pim The Library Channel Storytimes

More digital options

Events

More events

ICPL Recommends

Decolonize Your Diet book cover
Decolonize Your Diet book cover

Decolonize Your Diet

Luz Calvo and Catriona Rueda Esquibel


Cookbooks

Great Exploration into Indigenous Mexican Cuisine!

vfernandez's picture

The author Michael Pollan advises in Food Rules, "Don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't recognize;" meaning the food industry has radically changed; especially the Western diet. These words rang particularly true when Decolonize Your Diet co-author Luz Calvo was diagnosed with breast cancer (despite being a vegetarian for 15 years.) She began to research and found that immigrant born Latinas had significantly lower rates of breast cancer than US born Latinas; prompting her to revisit the indigenous cuisine of Mexico. What follows in this cookbook are some amazing recipes cooked with high amounts of fiber, fruits, vegetables and revolutionary love. Fans of Sean Sherman and Beth Dooley's The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen and Michael W. Twitty's The Cooking Gene will deeply appreciate this cookbook. Also, try the Caldo De Quinoa; it's a great soup and Winter is Coming! -Victoria
Pachinko book cover
Pachinko book cover

Pachinko

Min Jin Lee

FICTION Lee Min
Fiction, Historical Fiction

"A new tour de force from the bestselling author of Free Food for Millionaires, for readers of The Kite Runner and Cutting for Stone. PACHINKO follows one Korean family through the generations, beginning in early 1900s Korea with Sunja, the prized daughter of a poor yet proud family, whose unplanned pregnancy threatens to shame them all. Deserted by her lover, Sunja is saved when a young tubercular minister offers to marry and bring her to Japan. So begins a sweeping saga of an exceptional family in exile from its homeland and caught in the indifferent arc of history. Through desperate struggles and hard-won triumphs, its members are bound together by deep roots as they face enduring questions of faith, family, and identity"--

jpaulios's picture

Terrific historical detail, an engaging story, and compelling characters. -Jason
Utopia Avenue book cover
Utopia Avenue book cover

Utopia Avenue

David Mitchell


Fiction, Historical Fiction

Soho, London, 1967. Folk-rock-psychedelic quartet Utopia Avenue is formed. Guitarist Jasper de Zoet, a shy, half-Dutch public-school musical prodigy, was hearing voices long before he dropped acid. Keyboardist Elf Holloway must defy the prejudices of her bank manager father, her housewife mother, and her age to forge her own career. Bassist Dean Moss cannot, will not, spend his life on the factory floor like everyone else in Gravesend. Band manager Levon Frankland--gay, Jewish, and Canadian--is not unduly burdened by conscience. The drummer is a drummer. Over two years and two albums, Utopia Avenue navigates the dark end of the Sixties: its parties, drugs and egos, political change and personal tragedy; and the trials of life as a working band in London, the provinces, European capitals and, finally, the promised land of America. What is art? What is fame? What is music? How can the whole be more than the sum of its parts? Can idealism change the world? How does your youth shape your life? This is the story of Utopia Avenue. Not everyone lives to the end.

jpaulios's picture

A decent historical fiction novel from one of my favorite writers. Engaging characters with lots of cameos from classic rock heroes, nothing monumental here but solid writing and pretty fun. -Jason
The dragon thief book cover
The dragon thief book cover

The dragon thief

Zetta Elliott

eBOOK
Read Woke, Fantasy, Adventure

Told in two voices, Jax and Kavita, Kavita's brother Vik, and new friend Kenny try to return the baby dragon to the realm of magic before anything else goes wrong.

CMaynard's picture

I'm currently reading this one aloud at bedtime for the second time! No surprises that the sequel to Dragons in a Bag is just as fun. -Casey
The pull of the stars : a novel book cover
The pull of the stars : a novel book cover

The pull of the stars : a novel

Emma Donoghue

FICTION Donoghue Emma
Historical Fiction

"In an Ireland doubly ravaged by war and disease, Nurse Julia Power works at an understaffed hospital in the city center, where expectant mothers who have fallen sick are quarantined into a separate ward to keep the plague at bay. Into Julia's regimented world step two outsiders, a woman doctor who is a rumored Rebel, and a teenage girl, Bridie, procured by the nuns from their orphanage as an extra set of hands. At first, this Bridie seems unschooled in life, she makes up a bed with only the rubber mat and savors the weak tea and barely edible porridge from the hospital kitchen. But in the intensity of this ward, over three brutal days, Julia and the women come together in unexpected ways."--Publisher.

amangano's picture

Emma Donoghue is one of my current favorite writers. Her books always resonate with me and "The Pull of the Stars" is no exception. Set in a maternity ward for expectant mothers with influenza (...in 1918...in Ireland), Donoghue again takes on grim, almost impossible circumstances with characters who try to manage and do their best. Enter Nurse Julia Power. She works long days, does everything in her power to help her patients, and goes home to her brother, who hasn't spoken since returning from the war front. On the eve of her 30th birthday, overworked and lonely Julia meets Bridie, an eager young helper from one of the church orphanages, and Doctor Kathleen Lynn, an Irish rebel doctor with new ideas on how to help women give birth. Over the next three days, Nurse Power has the best days, and worst, of her life. -Anne M
A deadly education : a novel book cover
A deadly education : a novel book cover

A deadly education : a novel

Naomi Novik

SCIENCE FICTION Novik Naomi
Fantasy

"Enter a school of magic unlike any you have ever encountered: There are no teachers, no holidays, and no friendships save strategic ones. Survival is more important than any letter grade, for the school won't allow its students to leave until they graduate . . . or die. The rules are deceptively simple: Don't walk the halls alone. And beware of the monsters who lurk everywhere. El is uniquely prepared for the school's dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to level mountains and wipe out untold millions. It would be easy enough for El to defeat the monsters that prowl the school. The problem? Her powerful dark magic might also kill all the other students. So El is trying her hardest not to use her power . . . at least not until she has no other option. Meanwhile, her fellow student, the insufferable Orion Lake, is making heroism look like a breeze. He's saved hundreds of lives--including El's - with his flashy combat magic. But in the spring of their junior year, after Orion rescues El for the second time and makes her look like more of an outcast than she already is, she reaches an impulsive conclusion: Orion Lake must die. But El is about to learn some lessons she never could in the classroom: About the school. About Orion Lake. And about who she really is."--Provided by publisher.

bvisser's picture

Novik delivers another super satisfying fantasy with her lethal twist on a school for wizards with characters you'll love. It's an interesting commentary on the haves and have nots as well. I can't wait for the sequel! -Brian

Staff Lists

More staff picks

NEW

​
Visit the catalog record for When Reagan sent in the Marines : the invasion of Lebanon
​
Visit the catalog record for Soulbbatical : a corporate rebel's guide to finding your best life
​
Visit the catalog record for Exercises for sciatica : a simple and effective self-care program for pain relief and the treatment of sciatica
​
Visit the catalog record for The light that failed : why the West is losing the fight for democracy
​
Visit the catalog record for American queenmaker : how Missy Meloney brought women into politics
​
Visit the catalog record for The Flash : savage velocity
​
Visit the catalog record for Cured : the life-changing science of spontaneous healing
​
Visit the catalog record for Glow from within
​
Visit the catalog record for Savage messiah : how Dr. Jordan Peterson is saving Western civilization
​
Visit the catalog record for Scratch programming in easy steps
​
Visit the catalog record for A world without work : technology, automation, and how we should respond
​
Visit the catalog record for Frida in America : the creative awakening of a great artist
​
Visit the catalog record for Heal : discover your unlimited potential and awaken the powerful healer within
​
Visit the catalog record for The NRA : the unauthorized history
​
Visit the catalog record for Love, money & parenting : how economics explains the way we raise our kids
​
Visit the catalog record for The great democracy : how to fix our politics, unrig the economy, and unite America
​
Visit the catalog record for Bakerita : 100+ no-fuss gluten-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free recipes for the modern baker
​
Visit the catalog record for Crack : rock cocaine, street capitalism, and the decade of greed
​
Visit the catalog record for What remains : bringing America's missing home from the Vietnam War
​
Visit the catalog record for Frolic and detour
​
Visit the catalog record for Something is killing the children
​
Visit the catalog record for Battling Bella : the protest politics of Bella Abzug
​
Visit the catalog record for Privilege in America
​
Visit the catalog record for Gender in the 21st century
​
Visit the catalog record for Labor unions and workers' rights
​
Visit the catalog record for Divergent mind : thriving in a world that wasn't designed for you
​
Visit the catalog record for Attainable sustainable : the lost art of self-reliant living
​
Visit the catalog record for Believe me : how trusting women can change the world
​
Visit the catalog record for #MeToo in the corporate world : power, privilege, and the path forward
​
Visit the catalog record for Alice Adams : portrait of a writer
​
Visit the catalog record for Sidney Lumet : a life
​
Visit the catalog record for The 100 greatest literary characters
​
Visit the catalog record for Eating for pregnancy : your essential month-by-month nutrition guide and cookbook
​
Visit the catalog record for F*ck your diet : and other things my thighs tell me
​
Visit the catalog record for The club : how the English Premier League became the wildest, richest, most disruptive force in sports
​
Visit the catalog record for Endometriosis : a guide for girls
​
Visit the catalog record for The Obama portraits
​
Visit the catalog record for The end of food allergy : the first program to prevent and reverse a 21st-century epidemic
​
Visit the catalog record for Batman. Creature of the night
​
Visit the catalog record for Knit step by step : techniques, stitches, and patterns made easy
​
Visit the catalog record for The luckiest man : life with John McCain
​
Visit the catalog record for The load
​
Visit the catalog record for Tales from the hood. 2
​
Visit the catalog record for The magicians. Season five
​
Visit the catalog record for Archive
​
Visit the catalog record for Blood quantum
​
Visit the catalog record for The infiltrators
​
Visit the catalog record for Tommaso
​
Visit the catalog record for A white, white day
​
Visit the catalog record for Advocate
​
Visit the catalog record for Diana Kennedy : nothing fancy
​
Visit the catalog record for Albert Einstein : still a revolutionary
​
Visit the catalog record for Dateline-Saigon
​
Visit the catalog record for Kobe : life of a legend
​
Visit the catalog record for Don't be nice
​
Visit the catalog record for Slay the dragon
​
Visit the catalog record for No small matter
​
Visit the catalog record for What she said : the art of Pauline Kael
​
Visit the catalog record for Lost in America
​
Visit the catalog record for Seadrift
​
Visit the catalog record for Rewind
​
Visit the catalog record for The painter and the thief
​
Visit the catalog record for The raft
​
Visit the catalog record for Beats
​
Visit the catalog record for Becky
​
Visit the catalog record for Brooklyn nine-nine. Season seven
​
Visit the catalog record for The tax collector
​
Visit the catalog record for Z
​
Visit the catalog record for Claudine
​
Visit the catalog record for The elephant man
​
Visit the catalog record for All the president's men
​
Visit the catalog record for JFK
​
Visit the catalog record for Exotic spaces
​
Visit the catalog record for Run The Jewels 4
​
Visit the catalog record for This mess is a place
​
Visit the catalog record for I am not a dog on a chain
​
Visit the catalog record for The waterfall II
​
Visit the catalog record for Brightest blue
​
Visit the catalog record for Ordinary madness
More new materials
Vote early at the Iowa City Public Library
Free in-person computer access
Battle of the Brains
Little Resurrections: Laboring to Find Wonder in Our Work
New automatic renewals: not a trick, it's a treat
No Impact Man
Staff Picks Just for you - get recommendations on what to read next
Visit our YouTube playlist for Children's Storytimes
Access the Abdo Zoom Databases now for free

News

PINNED

Early Voting for 2020 General Election

by Jason — October 16, 2020
Early voting for the 2020 General Election has begun in Johnson...
PINNED

Library Services Update

by Sam — October 16, 2020
Honoring the Journey

The New Normal in Spooky Season

by Jacy — October 21, 2020
As the weather cools, and the safety measures are still a necessary...

Catalog Tips: Exploring Read-Alikes and Story Elements

by Melody — October 20, 2020
Voracious readers, take note! When you want to get into a new book...

ICPL Bookmobile, Back in Action!

by Shawna — October 10, 2020
The Iowa City Public Library Bookmobile can soon be found again on...

Banned Books Week begins 9-27-2020

by Beth — September 25, 2020
One of our most cherished freedoms in the...

Changes, Core Values, and Strategic Planning: COVID-19 Edition

by Elsworth — September 23, 2020
Change can be hard, and at Iowa City Public Library, working through...

Catalog Tips: All About Series

by Frannie — September 23, 2020
When it comes to books, are you all about reading a series? Do you...

The Only Way Out is Through

by Heidi K — September 22, 2020
By March, it seemed obvious the U.S. would be shutting down soon....

More news