It’s our 90th birthday and we’re having a party!

View a gallery of photographs from the library's birthday party. The Friends of the Fayetteville Public Library sponsored the celebration.

1916

Fayetteville Library Is Formally Opened¹

The formal opening of the Public Library, at the northeast corner of the courthouse basement, was had Thursday afternoon from 3 till 5 o'clock. About 200 residents of the city attended the opening. A Victrola furnished music and punch was served at the north entrance of the courthouse.

The opening yesterday was for adults. Saturday afternoon from 3 to 4 o'clock, those in charge will give the children of the city a welcome to the library. There will be music and light refreshment for the occassion. Special books have been secured for children and Miss Huetta Vaulx, librarian, plans to make the children's feature of the library most attractive.

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1937

Nearly 1,000 Attend Opening of City Library²

An estimated 1,000 or more persons attended the formal opening yesterday of the new Library quarters in the City Administration building.

Approximately 300 guests were served last evening when tea and cakes were served between the hours of 7 to 10, with Mrs. C.K. McClelland pouring the first hour and Miss Julia Vaulx pouring the second hours.

Presidents of five local book clubs, members of the library board and their wives or husbands and members of the City Council assisted in the evening hospitality in the afternoon in which members of several PTA's were in charge.

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1962

Fulbright Library Dedication Attracts Over 1,000 Persons³

Well over 1,000 persons, representing three foreign countries and several states in addition to Arkansas, attended the dedication and open house of the Roberta Fulbright Public Library in Fayetteville yesterday. The building, on Dickson Street, houses the city and county libraries and opened for business today.

Dr. E.B. Meriwether, making the principle address, dedicated the facilities to "wisdom, knowledge and understanding." United States Sen. J.W. Fulbright spoke briefly expressing appreciation to the community and those responsible. Mayor Guy E. Brown welcomed visitors and guests; invocation was by the Rev. Marius Lindloff and benediction by the Rev. James W. Rainwater. Webb Williams, chairman of the board of the city library, presided and introduced guests.

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2004

Blair Library Opens Doors to Anxious Crowd⁴

Library patrons of all ages crowded around the Blair Library on Saturday morning to commemorate its first official day of business.

The crowd came to a hush as the North Arkansas Symphony began playing Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man." Poet Miller Williams read a poem especially written for the occasion called "The Alphabet as Part of What We Know," followed by remarks by Mayor Dan Coody and Jim Blair.

"This crowd is almost as impressive as this building," said Louis Gottsponer Jr., president of the library's board of trustees. "The last time in Fayetteville that we had a crowd like this was when we opened the doors to the Fulbright Library."

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Trivia

• The first book acquisitioned was Westward Ho by Charles Kingsley.
• A library membership in 1916 cost $1.
• Florida Read was the first paid librarian, hired at $15/month in 1917.
• The library was closed for two weeks in March 1918 because of a smallpox quarantine, and again in October of the same year and February 1920 because of influenza.
• The public library joined the county library system in 1948.
• Full library use was segregated until 1948. Summer story hours for children were integrated by 1959.
• The first book given as a memorial was to the memory of Judge W.A. Falconer, chancery court judge and U of A faculty member. The book was his own translation of Cicero.

For a full history of the Fayetteville Public Library, visit the Library History page.