Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) will celebrate its 100th anniversary on February 2, 2010. The system will mark this historic milestone with projects, programs and events throughout the year.
The anniversary celebration kicked off with the publication of a calendar featuring photos of each of CALS’s twelve branches and significant dates in the system’s history. These calendars were distributed in the branches.
From Carnegie to Cyberspace: A Centennial Celebration of the Central Arkansas Library System will be published by Butler Center books in late summer. The book will be a combination of the history of the library system and a celebration of the progress it has made over the last 100 years. It will feature information about the people who built the system from the original Carnegie library into one of the largest systems in the mid-South, the history of the branches, and the successes and growth of the system.
CALS began as the Little Rock Public Library in 1910. The original library structure was constructed using an $88,100 grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The Little Rock site was one of four libraries the Carnegie Corporation funded in Arkansas. Many pieces of furniture from Little Rock’s first Public Library are still used in CALS buildings today. Tables from the Carnegie Library are in use in the Main Library and in the Cox Creative Center. Original shelving from the first library is currently in use at River Market Books & Gifts, the library’s used book store. Four stone columns were part of the original Carnegie Library but were removed and considered scrap when the library moved to its second location. The columns had been in the possession of a patron until CALS director Bobby Roberts located and brought them back to be part of the library landscape.
Events will be held at each of CALS’s twelve branches throughout the year. More information will be available on the website, www.cals.org.
For more information contact Susan Hill Gele at 918-3086.
