CALS Blogs

To help celebrate 15 years of the CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas—the only state encyclopedia produced and supported by a public library—we asked 15 staff members from around the Central Arkansas Library System to pick their favorite EOA entries. They picked some good ones! Like everyone else, these CALS staffers use it for research,

If how corporations currently embrace Pride Month is considered any indication of how homosexual culture is accepted, you might think that being LGBTQ is a [rainbow-covered] walk in the park. This generation has been raised watching Pride parades and having openly gay relatives. But this path was not always literal rainbows and sunshine. Eric Cervini takes a deep dive into the history of homosexuality in America and the war that has been waged against those who seek their own truth.

CALS and Metroplan invite you to join the conversation around the future of central Arkansas’s transportation system. The Connecting Central Arkansas Public Outreach Initiative kicks off Metroplan’s upcoming Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP). The MTP provides a roadmap of a sustainable, wide-reaching vision for how central Arkansas will prepare, build, maintain, and partner for improved mobility over the next 20 years.

Author and social commentator Roxane Gay spoke virtually Thursday, April 29, as part of the CALS Speaker Series. Her parting advice to aspiring writers is one that many can take to heart even outside of the realm of writing: “Be relentless.”  

She began by reading an essay,

Wednesday is arguably the saddest day of the week. It’s not called “Hump Day” for nothing. Thankfully, the Galleries & Bookstore at Library Square is launching a tasty new reason to visit the Library Square- What’chu Eatin’ Wednesdays! Every Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (or until sold out) they’re hosting a new food truck.

Have you heard the news? There’s a new holiday on the [local] calendar and it’s celebrating all things local to the Five Oh One. On May 1 (Get it? 5/01) the Downtown Little Rock Partnership is leading the charge on celebrating central Arkansas.

Everything is going to be fine.

Early last Spring, we increased the fine limit to allow a bit of breathing room for our patrons as we all adjusted to a difficult time. But now, it’s time for all of us to begin the process of returning to normal, including reducing our fine limit to pre-pandemic amounts.

Our volunteers are invaluable members of the CALS team. Volunteers bring special talents and enthusiasm with them. Many of our volunteers are also members of Friends of CALS, and with their monetary donations for this annual membership they support programs across the library system.