April 21-27 is Volunteer Appreciation Week and CALS wants to express a huge THANK YOU to our wonderful volunteers. Close to 800 volunteers donate their time to the library regularly throughout the year. We currently have 1,296 volunteers on file at CALS. This past year, we had 668 volunteers donate 12,697.25 hours, for a cost savings of $403,772.55 to the library system.
So much progress has been made at Williams Library recently! So much so that it’s almost time to reopen. Check out the progress photos below. The bright orange crosswalk has been painted and leads from Dunbar Middle School to the new entrance. Bright colors are splashed across the walls, creating a fun and inviting space.
On Tuesday, February 6, CALS held a “Wall Breaking” ceremony to kick off the interior demolition of the library. It included a huge turnout of patrons, CALS staff, and members from CDI Contractors as well as the architects from Polk Stanley Wilcox. After a bit of conversation, we discovered how ecstatic they were to be working on the Library,
What an incredible weekend at the Central Arkansas Library System! On Saturday, October 4, we officially and ceremoniously reopened the doors to our newly reimagined Main Library. It was a celebration unlike any we have had at CALS.
CALS patrons now have digital access to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Historical Archive! Many of you know that the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette was split into two newspapers until they merged in 1991. This collection contains searchable, image edition issues of the Arkansas Gazette, Arkansas Democrat, and Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. This collection is available remotely so patrons can access this outside our libraries;
It must be human nature to want to classify events as either before or after some watershed event. I’m not smart enough to know why we do it but I often hear and find myself saying something happened “pre-pandemic” or “post-pandemic.”
I’m reluctant to start another year talking about a pandemic that for many was a source of trauma but there is value in assessing how we approach issues in comparison to how we did things before March 2020.
CALS staff members, Guy Lancaster and Brian Robertson recently had articles published in the Arkansas Historical Quarterly, a peer-reviewed journal of the Arkansas Historical Association.
The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, established in 1942, is the scholarly journal of the Arkansas Historical Association. It publishes research on every aspect of Arkansas’s history, from earliest human habitation to the twenty-first century.
On November 2, CALS staff members from several branches along with other well-wishers gathered at the Hillary Rodham Clinton Children’s Library & Learning Center to bid a fond farewell to retiring Deputy Director Lisa Donovan. If you know anything about Lisa, the location of the party was a given. Lisa began her career with CALS when the Main Library opened in its current location in the River Market in 1997.
Honor or memorial gifts are an everlasting way to pay tribute to someone who has touched your life. Give a donation in someone’s name to mark a special occasion, honor a friend or colleague or remember a beloved family member. When a tribute gift is given the honoree will receive a letter acknowledging your generosity and a bookplate will be placed in a book. For more information, contact 501-918-3025 or calsfoundation@cals.org.
Spreading your gift out through monthly contributions is a great solution for your budget and ours. Your monthly donation provides ongoing and predictable support we can count on to fund educational and cultural programming for the patrons, communities, and neighborhoods being served by CALS.
Leave your legacy with a planned gift that can help ensure quality materials, programming, and services for our libraries. For more information, contact 501-918-3025 or calsfoundation@cals.org.
Or, sign up for Kroger Rewards and a portion of your purchases at Kroger will be donated to the CALS Foundation. Simply go to krogercommunityrewards.com, click “Create an Account” to sign in, and select CALS Foundation as your organization to support.
If you would like to make a donation by check, print this donation form, fill it out and mail it with your check to:
Central Arkansas Library System
100 Rock Street
Little Rock, AR. 72201
The CALS Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization. Donations made to the CALS Foundation are tax-deductible for United States federal income tax purposes. Read our Privacy Policy.
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