McMath Library Closed for Renovation/Expansion as CALS seeks to better meet patrons needs

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calsThe Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) Sidney S. McMath Library, 2100 John Barrow Road, is having a makeover and will be closed from Monday, March 17, through early June 2014. A new children’s programming room will be added and the existing children’s area will be expanded. Additional computers and parking space, new carpet, furniture, and paint will complete the remodel.

In early 2013, CALS completed a satisfaction survey to determine the way library services were accessed and used by library patrons, and why non-users did not take advantage of library services. Modern libraries are community centers to provide a broad range of services beyond lending books. The remodel of the McMath Library will better reflect the way libraries are being used by becoming more patron-centered, more prominently featuring items that are used most heavily, and allowing better access to the services used by most patrons.

Any patron with a library card may request a specific book be sent to a branch for them to check out. Patrons may use any of CALS’s other thirteen other branches while the McMath Library is closed. The closest branches are the Fletcher Library, 823 N. Buchanan, and the Terry Library, 2015 Napa Valley Drive.

In March 2012, Little Rock voters voted to refinance capital improvement bonds. Funds from the refinance will be used to cover the $325,000 cost of the remodel and update.

The McMath Library was opened in 2004 to serve the central Little Rock community. The library sits on a ten-acre lot and includes a pond and a walking trail.  The library was named for Sidney Sanders McMath, the thirty-fourth governor of Arkansas.

CALS libraries in Little Rock include: Main Library, 100 Rock Street; Hillary Rodham Clinton Children’s Library and Learning Center, 4800 W. 10th Street, Dee Brown Library, 6325 Baseline Road; Fletcher Library, 823 North Buchanan Street; McMath Library, 2100 John Barrow Road,Oley E. Rooker Library, 11 Otter Creek Court; Terry Library, 2015 Napa Valley Drive; Thompson Library, 38 Rahling Circle; and Williams Library, 1800 Chester Street. CALS libraries in surrounding communities include: Max Milam Library, 609 Aplin Avenue, Perryville; Maumelle Library, 10 Lake Pointe Drive, Maumelle; Esther D. Nixon Library, 703 W. Main Street, Jacksonville; Amy Sanders Library, 31 Shelby Drive, Sherwood; and Millie M. Brooks Library, 13024 Hwy. 365 S., Wrightsville.