LR library galleries, bookstore will close

The Central Arkansas Library System’s galleries and bookstore located in downtown Little Rock will close on May 31 to accommodate other services in the lead-up to the closure of the Main Library for remodeling, officials said Tuesday.

Work to remodel the Main Library could begin in September, said Lance Ivy, the library system’s director of facilities and operations, during a news conference held inside Concordia Hall of the Bobby L. Roberts Library of Arkansas History & Art.

At the news conference, which was billed as a “media day,” Ivy and other library officials provided updates on the future renovation, new initiatives and coming events.

Ivy put the timeline for the Main Library construction at 14-16 months, depending on how things go.

The Main Library, located at 100 S. Rock St., opened in September 1997 — the building was originally constructed as a warehouse in 1920 — but it has not experienced a major overhaul since, according to the library system.

The five-story, 156,000-square-foot building’s new features after the remodeling might include an atrium-style entrance, better

outdoor space in the back and a dedicated space for homeless patrons, according to the library system.

Although at the moment the Main Library’s lower level is open to the public only during periodic used-book sales, it will become “almost entirely available” to patrons post-renovation, a handout from the library system on Tuesday said.

The building will be closed to the public during renovation.

To keep some services available to individuals in the downtown area in the meantime, library officials plan to repurpose various spaces in the Roberts Library in a temporary setup they have dubbed “Mini Main.” Other services and programs are anticipated to operate out of the nearby Cox Building.

The Roberts Library is expected to house spaces for reading or studying, a computer lab, areas for children and teens as well as popular books and magazines, Ivy said.

Some have criticized the decision to close the Galleries & Bookstore at Library Square, and opponents of the move recently voiced their concerns at a Jan. 26 library system board meeting.

Library officials have yet to lay out in detail how the space set to become “Mini Main” inside the Roberts Library might be used after the actual Main Library reopens in 2025. The handout said that following the renovation, “the downstairs space of the Roberts Library will be repurposed but will continue to showcase local art and rotating exhibitions.”

Last year, library officials selected a team of architects to oversee the remodeling work at the Main Library. On Feb. 8, a library committee chose CDI Contractors to carry out the construction work, although a measure authorizing an agreement with the firm has yet to come before the board.

Staff who work in the Main Library will have to relocate during the transition. Some will go to 7773 Sloane Drive in Little Rock, a building just southeast of Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/ Adams Field where library officials have leased 32,000 square feet of space.

The Sloane Drive building also is expected to host usedbook sales while the Main Library is closed. The final two used-book sales downtown are scheduled for March 9-11 and July 13-15.

The Main Library remodeling is the result of a referendum last May in which Little Rock voters authorized the extension of a capital-improvement millage at the lower rate of 1.3 mills — a reduction of 0.5 mill — as well as the refinancing of library bonds.

The refinancing was meant to generate some $22 million to use on improvements, including the Main Library overhaul.

Ivy on Tuesday noted that the library system’s new bookmobile — another expenditure bankrolled by proceeds from the bond refinancing — is expected to arrive this fall.