We have entered a brave new world. This Saturday we planned to co-host an Irish genealogy workshop with the Arkansas Genealogical Society. But in the new reality of social distancing and self-quarantine in response to COVID-19, the Central Arkansas Library System decided to postpone/cancel all public events through March 31 and close all locations to the public until at least March 23.

Sometimes, I like to take a look at the Google Analytics page for the CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas and see what sort of entries people are reading right then. If we look at a whole month’s statistics, we often find the usual suspects, such as the Little Rock Nine and the desegregation of Central High School.

On view March 13–July 25, 2020 in the Galleries at Library Square, West Gallery, in the Bobby L. Roberts Library of Arkansas History & Art 

The Mid-Southern Watercolorists 50th Annual Juried Exhibition will include thirty-nine paintings selected by juror Lynn Ferris of West Virginia.

By Rachel Chenault

As most people know, getting a bachelor’s degree in history and classics does not guarantee you a job. Despite knowing this, I have committed myself to a history degree at Hendrix College, and I don’t regret it for a moment. That being said, as I finished my sophomore year,

Every Second Friday Art Night (2FAN), hundreds of people discover or revisit the beauty and immense variety of the gifts in our retail art and craft gallery.

If you haven’t seen the gallery yet, you will love this curated treasure trove of perfect gifts, from paintings and sculptures to cutting boards, scarves, wooden utensils,

This collection contains documents, photographs, scrapbooks, and memorabilia related to the family of James H. Penick Sr. and Mary Booker Worthen Penick, including histories of both the Penick and the Worthen families, as well as the couple’s descendants. The material in this collection spans seven generations (listed below) and 180 years, beginning in the early days of Little Rock’s history and ending with the dawn of the twenty-first century.

Arkansas Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) was founded in Little Rock, Arkansas, in June 1970 as a grassroots organization composed of community groups made up of low- and moderate-income families. When partner organizations were founded in other states, the name was changed to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, although the original name continued to be used in Arkansas for some time.

CALS Butler Center Books
May 2020, 300 pages, 6×9, approx. 20 images
$29.95 paperback ISBN 978-1-945624-25-4

“You might wonder if a community health clinic could actually be the spark that ignited a civil rights fire in a quiet Delta town. It was. Or you might not believe that an inexperienced health clinic director could become a civil rights bogeyman or hero depending on who you were talking to.

You last heard from me just as I was moving my office one door over and taking the position of manager of the CALS Bobby L. Roberts Library of Arkansas History & Art. It’s been a busy three months, and there’s plenty to share with you as we start a brand-new year.

The year 2019 by the numbers: 

More than 43,000 people visited the newly redesigned Butler Center/Roberts Library website.

The first way historians often try to reach young people is to show them that history is not just a dusty portrait of a politician on the wall or a dry recitation of dates and battles. History comes alive for individuals who realize that history is a mirror—a mirror in which their own images reflect all the past stories of light and shadow that have made them who they are today.