Arkansas State Library

The Arkansas State Library (ASL) in Little Rock (Pulaski County) is the state agency charged with the task of administering state and federal funds for Arkansas libraries and their development. The library also offers library services to the public and provides administration and leadership to improve public libraries and library services. The director of the agency has the title of state librarian.

The Arkansas State Library was founded by the Arkansas Library Commission. This commission was established by the Arkansas General Assembly in 1935 through Act 139. However, state funds for operation were not provided until 1937. The ASL became a division in the Arkansas Department of Education through Act 489 in 1979. This transition allowed for the duties of the library to go through the State Library Board instead of the Arkansas Library Commission. The board consists of seven members who meet quarterly. The ASL also receives funding from a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, distributing some of this funding to other smaller libraries and organizations.

The library initially had trouble finding a permanent location. In its first four decades, the library was located in various places in Little Rock, including the War Memorial Building, the third floor of the Arkansas State Capitol, and the Wrape Building. Eventually, plans were established for a permanent location. The specifications for the new building were established by Act 1223 of 1975. The building, located behind the Arkansas State Capitol, was designed to include the Arkansas Library Commission, the Arkansas History Commission (now the Arkansas State Archives), and other state agencies. The “Big Mac” Building was finished in August 1978; the ASL occupied a 63,000-square-foot area on the fifth floor. In 2010, the ASL moved to its current location at 900 West Capitol Avenue. The library consists of a first and second floor with a total of 65,838 square feet.

Throughout the years, the ASL has accumulated a collection of 2.6 million items, including reference materials, federal and state documents, state newspapers, state regulations, and a patent and trademark collection. Collections focused on Arkansas include books about Arkansas history and its people, information published by or for the Arkansas government, and rules and regulations of Arkansas state agencies. The majority of the Arkansas collections have a limited circulation period. Together, all the various collections allow the library to act as a resource center for state agencies.

The ASL offers free online resources to all Arkansans. These include an online catalog, mobile access to ASL collections, an “ask a librarian” feature, RAISE (Resource Assistance In Seeking Employment), and interlibrary loans. Included in the library space are public meeting rooms and a computer training room available for reservations. The Arkansas Regional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped is a division overseen by the ASL.

The Arkansas State Library mission is “to serve as the information resource center for state agencies, legislators and legislative staffs, to provide guidance and support for the development of local public libraries and library services, and to provide the resources, services, and leadership necessary to meet the educational, informational and cultural needs of the citizens of Arkansas.”

During the 2025 legislative session, the Arkansas State Library became the latest target in a moral panic about the content of library collections that had begun in the lead-up to the 2022 midterm elections. State Senator Dan Sullivan of Jonesboro (Craighead County) introduced SB 181, which permits individuals to qualify for a job as director of a regional library or the Arkansas State Library by substituting work experience in the place of a master’s degree from a program accredited with the American Library Association. He also introduced SB 184, a bill to abolish the Arkansas State Library Board and the Arkansas Educational Television Commission and transfer their powers, duties, and funding to the Arkansas Department of Education. SB 181 was signed into law as Act 242, but SB 184 stalled in the legislative process, and Sullivan later introduced SB 536, a bill that would abolish the Arkansas State Library and its board, restrict the access of minors to certain books and other media deemed to be “age-inappropriate material,” and establish minimum service hours for libraries depending upon the size of the population they serve. SB 536 passed the Arkansas Senate on April 2, 2025, but it was voted down in a House committee. However, Sen. John Dismang of Searcy (White County) filed SB 640, which would end the terms of present members of the State Library Board and allow the governor to appoint seven new board members; this bill passed both houses by April 15, 2025, and Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed the bill into law (Act 903) on April 21.

For additional information:
Arkansas State Library. https://www.library.arkansas.gov/ (accessed June 4, 2024).

Ashcraft, Carolyn. Arkansas State Library: The First 75 Years, 1937–2012. N.p.: 2012.

Snyder, Josh. “State Library Measure Gets Senate Approval.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, April 3, 2025, pp. 1A, 6A. Online at https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/apr/02/senate-approves-bill-to-abolish-state-library/ (accessed April 3, 2025).

Cheyenne Eslick
Sheridan, Arkansas