Tag Archives: CALS

Dedication of Hillary Rodham Clinton Children’s Library & Learning Center today

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READThe Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) Hillary Rodham Clinton Children’s Library & Learning Center will be dedicated on Monday, July 8, during an afternoon of events beginning at 1:30 p.m. at the children’s Library,  4800 W. 10th Street.

Admittance is free, but registration is required, and limited to 150 attendees and four attendees per registration. Each adult must be accompanied by a child of up to twelve years. Attendees may register at http://centralarkansaslibrarysystem.eventbrite.com or by calling the children’s Library at 918-3870.

Additional programming will be ongoing throughout the day.

The CALS Board of Trustees voted on Thursday, June 27, to recognize Hillary Rodham Clinton for her services to children by naming the new children’s Library in her honor. The board wished to specifically acknowledge the work she did as a citizen of Arkansas, including service for the Children’s Defense Fund, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, Arkansas Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youth, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Arkansas Educational System Task Force, Rural Health Advisory Committee, and many others, including her ground-breaking work as co-chair of Arkansas’s Educational Standards Committee. Also recognized is her continued work at the national and international levels to improve the lives of all the world’s children.

CALS’s Hillary Rodham Clinton Children’s Library & Learning Center is one of fourteen CALS branches serving Pulaski and Perry counties. For more information, call 978-3870 or visit www.cals.org.

CALS Legacies & Lunch today at noon explores early banking

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cals_int_sponsor_butlerStereotypes hold that rural people in early Arkansas kept their money under their mattresses. Maybe they had the right idea back then. The Butler Center for Arkansas Studies will host “The High Costs of Arkansas’s Early Banks,” a free talk by Dr. Scott Lien, as part of its monthly Legacies & Lunch lecture series, Wednesday, July 3, at noon in the Main Library’s Darragh Center, 100 Rock Street.

Lien will discuss Arkansas’s experiences with the state’s first two chartered banks, from the days before the Civil War. The banks offered help to some while foreclosing opportunities for others. Lien is a history professor at Lyon College in Batesville. His research focuses on how democracy has affected opportunities of all Americans.

The Butler Center’s Legacies & Lunch program is free, open to the public, and supported in part by the Arkansas Humanities Council. Attendees are invited to bring a sack lunch; drinks and dessert will be provided.

The Butler Center for Arkansas Studies is a department of the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS). It was founded in 1997 to promote the study and appreciation of Arkansas history and culture. The Butler Center’s research collections, art galleries, and offices are located in the Arkansas Studies Institute building at 401 President Clinton Ave. on the campus of the CALS Main Library.

For more information, call 918-3086.

June 2nd Friday Art Night is busting with Fun

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2nd Friday Art NightJune is Busting Out All Over with great art and music downtown on 2nd Friday Art Night.  Visual art, music, refreshments, a trolley for transportation can all be yours for the low price of FREE.  The festivities run from 5pm to 8pm, unless otherwise noted.

Among the highlights:

  • Old State House Museum (300 West Markham) will feature Geoff Robson and David Gerstein performing duets for violin and cello.
  • Historic Arkansas Museum (200 East Third) will celebrate the opening of its new Arkansas Made Gallery; in addition there will be live music by Parkstone.
  • Edge Gallery (301B President Clinton Ave) will be featuring contemporary art.
  • Butler Center Galleries (401 President Clinton Ave) is showing Creative Expressions; Arkansas Arts Educators; From the Vault: Works from the CALS Permanent Collection; and Old School: Remembering the Brinkley Academy
  • Courtyard Marriott Downtown (521 President Clinton Ave) is teaming up with Spirited Art Little Rock and hosting a painting class in its cafe beginning at 6:30pm.
  • Hearne Fine Art (1001 Wright Ave, Suite C) will host an opening reception for Reflections In Silver: Silverpoint Drawings by Aj Smith & Marjorie Williams-Smith.
  • studioMain (1423 South Main Street) they are featuring a UALR Student Furniture Showcase.  This has become an annual exhibit of furniture pieces created by students of the UALR Applied Design program.

History of State Capitol is topic of noon talk today

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irreverant_overview

The State of Arkansas turns 177 later this week.  A good way to mark this is to contemplate the building which has been the seat of government for over 100 of those years.

ad conclusio, per aspera; or, Two Architects, Six Governors, Dozens of Contractors, One Jailed Senator, Fifteen Years, and 2.23 Million Dollars Lead to What? is the name of a noontime conversation being hosted by the Central Arkansas Library System today, June 12.

The program, which will take place in the Arkansas State Capitol building in Room 272, will feature State Capitol historian David Ware.

It is being billed as “an irreverent overview of how the Capitol project survived.”  Construction of the Arkansas Capitol began in 1899 and stalled early due to problems with financing and failed deadlines.

With the support and vision from the project’s most emphatic backer, then-Governor George Donaghey, members of the Arkansas Legislature met for the first time in the chambers of the still-unfinished Capitol on January 9, 1911. Donaghey declared the building was “done enough” to accommodate the solons and state officers.

Bottled water and cookies will be provided; guests are invited to bring their own lunch.

Sidney Moncrief at Children’s Library today

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moncriefThe new Children’s Library and Learning Center will welcome Little Rock Hall and Arkansas Razorback basketball standout Sidney Moncrief today at 2pm.  Moncrief, of course, went on to an oustanding NBA career with the Milwaukee Bucks and has been a coach and businessman since retiring as a player.

He will be discussing his books Passport to Reinventing You and Your Passport to Becoming a Valuable Team Player.  Moncrief will be available to sign books after the presentation. All are welcome. Takes place in the theater.

The Central Arkansas Library System’s Children’s Library and Learning Center is located at 4800 W. 10th St.  Set on a six-acre site, the $12 million, 30,000 square foot Children’s Library includes a computer lab with fourteen computers, teaching kitchen, large activity area, individual and group study rooms, theater, and community room in addition to a collection of more than 21,000 books, DVDs, and CDs.

Legacies & Lunch Today: Music industry legend Bill Carter

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bill_carterThe monthly Legacies & Lunch program returns today with music industry legend Bill Carter.

He will discuss his exciting, wildly varied career as an attorney, agent, and more at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies’ Legacies & Lunch on Wednesday, June 5, at noon in the Main Library’s Darragh Center, 100 Rock Street. (For instance, when the Rolling Stones were arrested in Arkansas, they called Carter.)

Carter will talk about his childhood in Rector, Arkansas and his wild ride through the music industry, plus a stint as a Secret Service agent. As an attorney, he is noted for his work with the Rolling Stones, securing their ability to enter and tour the United States in the sixties. As an agent, he represented musical artists such as Reba McEntire, Tanya Tucker and Waylon Jennings. He also served as a Secret Service agent, which he addresses in his memoir, Get Carter. His book will be available for sale and signing at the program.

The Butler Center’s Legacies & Lunch program is free and open to the public and supported in part by the Arkansas Humanities Council. Attendees are invited to bring a sack lunch; drinks and dessert will be provided.

The Butler Center for Arkansas Studies is a department of the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS). It was founded in 1997 to promote the study and appreciation of Arkansas history and culture. The Butler Center’s research collections, art galleries, and offices are located in the Arkansas Studies Institute building at 401 President Clinton Ave. on the campus of the CALS Main Library.

For more information, call 918-3029.

CALS opens new Children’s Library and Learning Center today

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CALS-Childrens-Library-and-Learning-Center-1-630x472Books, plants, vegetable soup, playwriting, and computers. Children will be able to learn more about each of these at the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) Children’s Library and Learning Center, 4800 W. 10 St., when it opens today.

Set on a six-acre site, the $12 million, 30,000 square foot Children’s Library includes a computer lab with fourteen computers, teaching kitchen, large activity area, individual and group study rooms, theater, and community room in addition to a collection of more than 21,000 books, DVDs, and CDs.

In 2007, Little Rock voters approved a bond issue to provide funding for the Children’s Library.

Community input from library patrons as young as eleven years old helped CALS fine tune the concept of a vibrant, happy place for families with children to come for hands-on learning and enrichment. Activities and programs will be geared toward preschool, elementary, and middle school students and key subject areas will focus on the amenities of the site. The teaching kitchen is large enough to accommodate an entire class in learning about all facets of culinary arts, including nutrition, growing, cooking, and eating food.

In the 165-seat theater, children can experience all aspects of theater, including designing and building sets, writing plays, acting, and costume design. The state-of-the-art sound system, lighting, and projection screens will also be used for movies, concerts, and lectures.

The Children’s Library’s grounds are integral to the entire facility’s program. A greenhouse and teaching garden will help children learn about growing healthy foods as well as provide produce that will be used in the teaching kitchen programs. The grounds reflect the topography of Arkansas’s ecosystems, from the native hardwood trees in the highlands to vegetation of the wetland areas, which are both planted and original to the site. Walking paths offer families an attractive place for exercise while learning the names of the trees and plants, and an amphitheater has seating for outdoor programs or nature watching.

Homework and projects may be completed in the lab with fourteen computers or on laptops available for checkout using free Wi-Fi access. Early childhood computers and iPads with literacy apps allow small children to practice reading and computer skills. A limited number of computers and materials are available for adults who bring their children.

The Children’s Library will be open Monday – Thursday from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Architectural, engineering, construction, and landscaping services were provided by Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects; East-Harding Construction; Engineering Consultants, Inc.; TME, Inc.; McClelland Consulting Engineers, Inc.; Viridian; Ecological Design Group, Inc.; Grubbs, Hoskyn, Barton and Wyatt, Inc.; and Landscape Architecture, Inc. Additional funding for streets, parking, and walking paths came from the City of Little Rock and Pulaski County.

For more information contact 918-3086.