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June is Pride Month, the perfect time to talk about gender and orientation. I’m excited we live in a time and place where people are increasingly allowed to explore the gender identity and orientation that suit them, with the freedom to try things on and see what feels right, what rings true. Personal identity is just that—super personal!

Most people involved with the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) recognize the name Ron Robinson. Not only is the CALS Ron Robinson Theater located in Library Square named for Robinson, but he was also active in many library activities. He was on the board of directors of Friends of CALS for three terms and offered pro bono consulting to the library system.

“I might eventually write something, but right now I’m just enjoying the research too much.”

I hear these words often, and they set me on edge each time. Usually, someone has just told me about some research they have undertaken, something that sounds really promising, something that could easily be an article or even a book.

An email from a patron researching family history was recently forwarded to the genealogy reference desk in the CALS Roberts Library Research Room, asking about guardianship laws in Arkansas around 1850. A frequent reference work for us is the Acts of Arkansas, a collection of books publishing bills enacted in Arkansas by the state legislature.

In early May, the Arkansas Digital Newspaper Project (ADNP) team presented “Exploring the Arkansas Digital Newspaper Project” as part of the monthly Legacies & Lunch program at the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS). We wanted to follow that up with an overview of our involvement in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP),

Although the population is only around 2,000, Eureka Springs is arguably one of the most interesting locales in Arkansas. This northwestern Arkansas tourist town situated in the Ozark Mountains is one of two county seats in Carroll County and home to legendary healing springs. The city draws a diverse tourist crowd every year and is known for its spas and bathhouses.

In recognition of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, celebrated each year in May, CALS Roberts Library staff members Brian Robertson and Danielle Afsordeh began searching through the thousands of photographs in the CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies’ collections to highlight AAPI content. During that search, Robertson came across the photograph below.

In this photo from the Streetscapes photograph collection (PHO.7),

In April 2022, the 1950 federal census was released. It was particularly exciting for many GenXers like me – the children of Baby Boomers. For the first time, I’d be able to find both of my parents in a U.S. Census.

I started by searching for my dad. And there he was, just where I thought he would be –

I’ve been contemplating the nature of history recently, as we often do at the CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas. I’m sure that this is not a great surprise to readers of this blog.

This contemplation stems, in part, from listening to an audiobook of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Barbara W. Tuchman’s 1978 book,

Watching someone you love succumb to death over a long period can twist how you think about time. It feels like you have so much and none at all—both at once. Every conversation feels both precious and mundane. 

My grandmother’s death was like this. She was sick for several months out of the year for the last few years of her life.