CALS Roberts Library

CALS Roberts Library Explore Arkansas History & Art 🎨 | Connect to Your Family's Story 📚 | Discover Local Artists 🖼️ | Preserve Your Past 🔍

CALS Roberts Library houses CALS Galleries & Bookstore at Library Square, CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, and CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas. CALS Galleries & Bookstore at Library Square is open Tuesday through Saturday 10am to 5pm. CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies is open Tuesday through Friday 10am to 5pm. For information about accessing ARCHIVAL/MANUSCRIPT collection, visit www.RobertsLibrary.org. CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas is always open at www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net.

Did you know the World’s Championship Rodeo was held at North Little Rock in 1939? The annual Arkansas Livestock Show oc...
04/16/2026

Did you know the World’s Championship Rodeo was held at North Little Rock in 1939? The annual Arkansas Livestock Show occurs every fall in Little Rock, in conjunction with the Arkansas State Fair, and is produced by the Arkansas Livestock Association. The second ever Livestock Show, held in 1939, was also host to the World’s Championship Rodeo.

Explore more history about the annual Arkansas Livestock Show and 1939 World’s Championship Rodeo, along with other events that were held in Pulaski County, in the recently digitized collection of historic celebrations, parades, and fairs: https://cals.click/parades

2nd/Second Friday Art Night Shop local, take in some music, and sip wine with friends! Friday, April 10, 5:00 p.m. - 8:0...
04/10/2026

2nd/Second Friday Art Night
Shop local, take in some music, and sip wine with friends!
Friday, April 10, 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Main Library - Central Arkansas Library System
1st Floor

Join us inside the newly renovated CALS Main Library! Boulevard Bread Company's location inside the library will also be open with a limited menu, so you can purchase your favorite snack, treat, or coffee. Also, DJ Swift 720 will be spinning the tunes.

This month, visit the Crafting with Creativebug table! Learn about CALS’s most crafty database and make some paper crafts to celebrate Earth Month. You can also make a seed packet to store your next plant project and make your own potted plant pencil holder. And come check out the Seed Library, a free program committed to increasing our ability to feed ourselves wholesome food by offering seeds and education.

2nd/Second Friday Art Night Shop local, take in some music, and sip wine with friends! Friday, April 10, 5:00 p.m. - 8:0...
04/09/2026

2nd/Second Friday Art Night
Shop local, take in some music, and sip wine with friends!
Friday, April 10, 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Main Library - Central Arkansas Library System
1st Floor

Join us inside the newly renovated CALS Main Library! Boulevard Bread Company's location inside the library will also be open with a limited menu, so you can purchase your favorite snack, treat, or coffee. Also, DJ CatDad will be spinning the tunes.
This month, visit the Crafting with Creativebug table! Learn about CALS’s most crafty database and make some paper crafts to celebrate Earth Month. You can also make a seed packet to store your next plant project and make your own potted plant pencil holder. And come check out the Seed Library, a free program committed to increasing our ability to feed ourselves wholesome food by offering seeds and education.
At our monthly 2FAN event, attendees will be greeted in the first-floor Shaylea Harding Lobby with local artists selling their work, art demonstrations, a craft table, a DJ or performer playing music, and light refreshments and libations. Arkansas artists will be selling ornaments, paintings, jewelry, greeting cards, clothing, photography, totes, prints, purses, treats, chocolates, pottery, wood, magnets, stickers, and more. You just never know what unique gift you will find!
PLUS: 2nd Friday Knit Night (part of 2FAN). Bring your WIP (work in progress) and hang out for an evening of social knitting. Don’t know how to knit? We'll teach you. Supplies provided.
(Note: Library services other than self-check will not be available after the library closes at 6:00.)
The event is free to attend, and parking is free with validation in the library lot/deck (as space is available). Street parking is also free after 6:00 p.m.
Made possible by generous funding from the CALS Foundation and the Windgate Foundation.
For more information about all downtown 2FAN activities, visit the 2nd Friday Art Night page. For any questions or concerns, please contact Shannon Boguslawski Holmes at 501-320-5792.

Did you know that Little Rock was home to a successful contortionist in the early 1900s? Fred Henker Jr., also known as ...
04/09/2026

Did you know that Little Rock was home to a successful contortionist in the early 1900s? Fred Henker Jr., also known as Waldo, was a local bookbinder and World War I veteran that discovered he was very limber at an early age. After studying other contortionists, he began his career at local shows. He started to find success around 1911 and started to tour the country, while also spending time in New York. During World War I, Henker Jr. was assigned to a military show group that entertained troops throughout Europe.

Explore more about Fred O. (Waldo) Henker Jr. In the recently digitized collection of the Dr. Fred O. Henker papers: https://cals.click/Henker

📗An Ordinary White: My Antiracist Education 🎤Historian David Roediger will present stories from his new book, An Ordinar...
04/04/2026

📗An Ordinary White: My Antiracist Education 🎤

Historian David Roediger will present stories from his new book, An Ordinary White: My Antiracist Education, and then pursue the meaning of those experiences in dialogue with Guy Lancaster.

Tuesday April 7, 2026 | 7:00 PM
CALS Main Library, Darragh Center

register: https://events.cals.org/event/15970684

refreshments provided & parking in CALS parking validated

Legacies & Lunch April 2026Violence and the Law in Jim Crow ArkansasWednesday, April 1, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 PM CALS Main ...
03/27/2026

Legacies & Lunch April 2026
Violence and the Law in Jim Crow Arkansas
Wednesday, April 1, 2026, 12:00 – 1:00 PM
CALS Main Library Darragh Center, 5th Floor
⁠
Join us for Legacies & Lunch in CALS Main Library's Darragh Center (5th floor). Thanks to the CALS Foundation, we are now offering free lunch on a first-come, first-served basis to in person attendees! ⁠
⁠
This conversation brings together historian John Kirk and attorney/author Scott Stern to examine how justice was dispensed in Jim Crow Arkansas, with state-sanctioned capital punishment taking the place of extralegal lynchings.

register at: https://events.cals.org/event/15970654
⁠
Meals are limited and will be offered on a first-come first-served basis. We cannot accommodate dietary restrictions or allergies and registration does not guarantee lunch will be available.

Have old MiniDV tapes you'd like to digitize? MiniDV appointments are back at the DIY Memory Lab! 📼📹️📺️MiniDV Appointmen...
03/25/2026

Have old MiniDV tapes you'd like to digitize? MiniDV appointments are back at the DIY Memory Lab! 📼📹️📺️

MiniDV Appointment are only available for Tuesday-Friday appointments.

Make an appointment at https://robertslibrary.org/memorylab/ 🌟

Address

401 President Clinton Avenue
Little Rock, AR
72201

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 6pm
Tuesday 9am - 6pm
Wednesday 9am - 6pm
Thursday 9am - 6pm
Friday 9am - 6pm
Saturday 12pm - 4pm

Telephone

(501) 320-5700

Website

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