LITTLE ROCK — Ihave always loved public libraries. Even as a barely literate elementary school student in rural Montgomery County, I eagerly awaited the monthly visit of the Bookmobile from Hot Springs. What a trove of books! Rows of books filled the vehicle, each shelf having a small wooden bar at the bottom to restrain the precious volumes during their ride over rough country roads.
As I moved into junior high school, Saturday trips to nearby Mena, in Polk County, opened up a world of discovery tucked away within the spacious rooms of what at one time had been a grand home but was in the early 1960s the public library.
Libraries have been on my mind lately because two of the premier libraries in Arkansas are celebrating their centennials this year-Eureka Springs and Little Rock. On a recent trip to Eureka Springs for their highly successful literary festival, Books in Bloom, I had the opportunity to visit their Carnegie Library.
Andrew Carnegie, the Scottish immigrantwho made his fortune in steel, gave away almost $50 million to build 1,687 free public libraries during the years 1883-1929. In addition to Eureka Springs, grants were also awarded to Fort Smith, Little Rock, and Morrilton.
Located at 198 Spring Street in Eureka Springs, the Classical Revival Style public library is a lovely building for a lovely setting. Given the steep terrain along Spring Street, the library has an imposing and functional entrance, a monumental central stone staircase located right in front of the building. After a short climb, stairs open at the main entrance. Historian Kenneth Story has described the entrance as being “visually enhanced by the two massive Doric columns, set in antis, that flank the double-leaf doorway.”
Construction began in 1910, but it was not finished until 1912-after local library trustee B.J. Rosewater convinced Andrew Carnegie to add $3,000 to his original grant of $12,500.
George W. Hellmuth, the St. Louis architect who designed the Carnegie and Free Public Library in Eureka Springs, created a building both beautiful and functional. Indeed, the building still serves its original purpose. The next time you are in Eureka Springs, bound up the steps, look back over your shoulder at the hillside town, and enter a library that should be a tourist destination in its own right.
The Little Rock public library, which is officially known as the Central Arkansas LibrarySystem, is something of an attraction, too. While its original Carnegie building was torn down in the early 1960s to make way for a modern building, the current library complex in downtown Little Rock is huge. Library patrons at the main library will find a veritable library village. In addition to the main library being located in the historic Fones Hardware building, there’s also the Cox Building with its coffee shop, art venues, and superb used book store. The recently-opened Arkansas Studies Institute, which is actually a complex of three historic structures, houses the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies as well as a range of other public and private heritage and educational agencies-not to mention a popularart exhibition and sales space.
Carnegie awarded $88,100 for the construction of the original Little Rock Carnegie Library. It opened in February 1910, with Miss Margaret M. Pugsley, the wonderfully named librarian in charge. Within two weeks, more than 800 library cards had been issued.
The first Carnegie library toopen in Arkansas was in Fort Smith in 1908. For years Fort Smith had been home to a variety of private and subscription libraries. The Fortnightly Club, a women’s group, played a key role in providing library services as well as in organizing the public library. Carnegie gave a grant of $25,000 for the library. It served as the main city library until 1970 when a new library building was occupied. The old Carnegie building is now home to a television station.
The final Carnegie library built in Arkansas was in Morrilton, and the building not only survives, it still serves as a library. The Pathfinder Club, another women’s literary society, was the organizing force behind Morrilton’s applying for a $10,000 Carnegie grant. When the Morrilton Carnegie Library opened in October 1916, visitors found a two story structure with Mediterranean influences and a bold red tile roof.
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Tom Dillard is the founding editor in chief of the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. He lives in Farmington, Ark.
Editorial, Pages 84 on 06/27/2010