Category: News Features

Our staff is taking care to keep our book returns and circulation process as safe and sanitary as possible during the pandemic.

We know how important it is to have a process for returning books and other physical items that protects the health of our staff and keeps you and your loved ones safe.

The Central Arkansas Library System includes two sources for unique gifts and for art made by Arkansas artists: the Bookstore and the Galleries at Library Square.

Now, our staff can help you find one-of-a-kind gifts so you can shop with comfort and safety while social distancing. You can contact us by email to order items or get suggestions based on the tastes of your loved one.

April is National Volunteer Appreciation Month! Even though our doors are closed to the public to protect your health, we still see our volunteers who are distributing grab-and-go meals every day at some of our library locations. Their cheerful and generous service shows the spirit that motivates our volunteers throughout our community.

When social distancing rules are relaxed,

After more than a month under social distancing guidelines, many of us are feeling the pang of loss for our canceled travel plans. But there’s an age-old way to experience travel’s joys, no matter what our circumstances—storytelling. Of all the freedoms our imagination brings us, this is one of the most precious: the power of the imagination to set sail around the world on the winds of a good story.

We miss seeing kids at the library! That’s why we’ve been doing lots of programs online, so kids can still see their CALS friends reading great stories. And here’s some exciting news– we put our heads together with the Little Rock Zoo and Little Rock TV and made some videos that have real animals in them.

  Get Print Books, DVDs, and Free Mobile Printing with No-Contact Pickup

We may be closed to the public right now, but there are still book elves flitting around inside some of our branches. They can pick up library materials for you and deliver them to the curb for a no-contact pickup at our branch libraries.

When Jean Scheidemantel was five years old, she and her older sister could get on their bikes and ride to their local library by themselves. They checked out books, stowed them in their bicycle baskets, and rode home to read their treasures. Back then, Jean’s favorites were Black Beauty, The Black Stallion,

April is National Poetry Month! There are all kinds of ways for you to celebrate poetry at CALS, whether you want to create your own and share it, hang out with other writers online, enter a contest and be part of a poetry publication, or take a quick break with our poetry readings on “Poetry Radio.”

Poetry can comfort us or give us freedom through our imaginations as we endure our global health crisis.